One Touch (Sugababes album)

One Touch is the debut studio album by British girl group Sugababes. It was released by London Records in the UK on 27 November 2000, and the following month in most other European territories. The trio worked with producer Cameron McVey on the majority of the album, which produced four Top 40 hits, including the hit "Overload", and "Run for Cover".

One Touch
Studio album by Sugababes
Released	27 November 2000 (2000-11-27)
Recorded	1998–2000
Studio	Bear Studios, Eastcote Studios, EMI Studios, Matrix Studios, Mayfair Studios (London)
Genre	R&B pop electronica neo soul
Length	48:20
Label	London
Producer	Don-E Carl McIntosh Cameron McVey Jony Rockstar Matt Rowe Paul Simm Luke Smith Ron Tom Paul Wilson
Sugababes chronology
One Touch (2000) Angels with Dirty Faces (2002)
Singles from One Touch
"Overload" Released: 11 September 2000 "New Year" Released: 18 December 2000 "Run for Cover" Released: 9 April 2001 "Soul Sound" Released: 16 July 2001

Despite peaking at number 26 on the UK Albums Chart and being certified Gold by the BPI,[1] and faring even better in German-speaking Europe, where it reached the top ten in Austria, Germany and Switzerland, the sales of One Touch did not meet the record company's expectations, and the group were eventually dropped in Autumn 2001,[2] making it their only release with the label. In addition, it became the only album featuring the group's original line-up. Siobhán Donaghy left the group in 2001. She initially stated that she wanted to pursue a fashion career, but was eventually diagnosed with clinical depression amid reports of in-fighting between the Sugababes members.[3]

In a March 2009 interview with Ponystep, former Sugababe Mutya Buena revealed that she thinks One Touch is the band's best work and that she still listens to it.[4] Donaghy has also stated in a separate interview that the album had been "ahead of its time".[5] In 2011 the original members who released One Touch reformed under the new name Mutya Keisha Siobhan, then in 2019 resumed performing as the Sugababes after securing the legal rights to the name.

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[6]
Daily Mail	[7]
Entertainment Ireland	[8]
The Guardian	[9]
The Independent	[10]
The Jerusalem Post	(positive)[11]
The Sunday Herald	[12]
Sunday Mirror	(9/10)[13]
Yahoo! Music	(9/10)[14]

The album received rave reviews, with critics applauding the girls, who were all only 15/16 years old at the time, for writing and singing songs that were considered to be unusually mature for their age. The Guardian called One Touch a "fantastic album that encapsulates the sound of young America with enough style, attitude and originality to mesmerise".[9] Tim Perry from The Independent wrote that "it's about time a half-decent pure-pop album got released, and over a dozen songs that jump playfully between upbeat R&B, poppy soul and groove-laden ballads, these three London schoolgirls have achieved it. What's more, they can actually sing. Listen and weep, Spice Girls: this is the future."[10] Similarly Sunday Mirror's Ian Hyland commented on the album: "All Saints can go off and have their babies. The future of funky British R'n'B is safe."[13] David Brinn from Jerusalem Post noted that "the Sugababes are the latest contender for the girl-group throne, and the London teen trio's opening shot, One Touch, proves that they're one step ahead of the pack."[11]

Andy Strickland, writing for Yahoo! Music called One Touch "just magnificent. Sugababes sing like angels – angels who've earned their wings listening to TLC and SWV not the Spice Girls." He concluded, "at the risk of giving them the musical equivalent of shin-splints by putting them in the first team too early, this record announces the arrival of potentially one of the most important new groups for many years."[14] The Daily Mail praied the trio as a "spontaneous alternative to the stage school graduates who make up the numbers in most girl groups" and added: The band "moves effortlessly from the tight funk [...] to more reflective songs. Even on ballads they avoid sounding mushy: these Babes can be bitter as well as sweet."[7] Dean Carlson from AllMusic complimented the album and rewarded it with a favourable three and a half out of five stars and wrote: "One Touch is everything a post-Spice Girls teen pop debut should be – discreet, adolescent, and as unstudied as a late-night phone call about boys."[6] Entertainment Ireland found that "although the Sugababes name makes them sound like another slice of pop fluff, these new kids on the R'n'B block are actually much more interesting than that. Their [...] debut album shows a maturity and musical proficiency that many of their peers might envy. Their blend of cool, laid-back soul is distinguished by mature vocals, accomplished arrangements and oblique lyrics."[8]

Commercial performance

On 9 December 2000, One Touch debuted at number 77 in the United Kingdom with sales of 5,510 copies.[15] After numerous weeks of fluctuating on the chart, the album made its final chart appearance on 17 February 2001 at number 76.[16] Two months later, the album re-entered the chart at number 71, and reached its peak position of number 26 two weeks later.[16] One Touch was certified Gold by the British Phonographic Industry, denoting shipments of 100,000 copies of the album.[17] By October 2007, the album had sold approximately 220,000 copies in the UK alone.[18] The album peaked at number 55 in Ireland.[19]

One Touch debuted at number nine in Austria, and peaked at number six the following week for two consecutive weeks. The album managed to remain in the chart for 16 weeks.[20] In Germany, the album peaked at number seven, and spent 19 weeks in the chart.[21] One Touch peaked at number eight for two weeks in Switzerland, where it spent 17 weeks on the chart.[22] In Australia, One Touch debuted at number 86 on 6 August 2001.[23] The album re-entered the chart at number 63 two weeks later, where it peaked.[24] The album achieved more success in New Zealand, where it debuted at number 31 on 19 August 2001, and peaked at number 16 the following week.[25]

Singles

The album's first official single, titled "Overload", was released on 11 September 2000, in the UK. The song, produced by Cameron McVey, became the Sugababes' first top ten single in the United Kingdom, peaking at number six. The album also spawned three more top 30 singles: "New Year", "Run for Cover" and "Soul Sound", which peaked at number 12, 13 and 30 respectively. "Run for Cover" also proved to have relative success across Europe, but did not challenge that of "Overload".

Track listing

One Touch

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Overload"	Keisha Buchanan Mutya Buena Siobhán Donaghy Felix Howard Cameron McVey Paul Simm Jonathan Lipsey	McVey Jony Rockstar Simm	4:35
2.	"One Foot In"	Paul Watson Sonia Cupid Luke Smith Donaghy Buchanan Buena	Watson Luke Smith	3:25
3.	"Same Old Story"	John Temis Matt Rowe Donaghy Buchanan Buena	Matt Rowebottom	3:03
4.	"Just Let It Go"	Temis Rowe Donaghy Buchanan Buena	Rowebottom	5:01
5.	"Look at Me"	McVey Lipsey Howard Simm Donaghy Buchanan Buena	McVey Rockstar Simm	3:58
6.	"Soul Sound"	Charlotte Edwards Sam Harley Ron Tom	Tom	4:30
7.	"One Touch"	Don-E Tom	Don-E Tom	4:20
8.	"Lush Life"	Tom, Carl McIntosh	Tom, McIntosh	4:28
9.	"Real Thing"	John Temis Matt Rowe Donaghy Buchanan Buena	Rowebottom	4:04
10.	"New Year"	McVey Lipsey Howard Rowe Donaghy Buchanan Buena	McVey Rockstar Simm	3:51
11.	"Promises"	McVey Lipsey Howard Simm Donaghy Buchanan Buena	McVey, Rockstar, Simm	3:17
12.	"Run for Cover"	Lipsey Simm McVey Donaghy Buchanan Buena	McVey, Rockstar, Simm	3:47

One Touch – Japanese bonus track

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
13.	"Don't Wanna Wait"	Don-E Tom	Don-E Tom	4:42

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (2001) Peak position Australian Albums (ARIA)[24] 63 Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[20] 6 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[21] 7 Irish Albums (IRMA)[19] 55 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[25] 16 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[22] 8 UK Albums (OCC)[16] 26

Year-end charts Chart (2001) Position German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[26] 86 UK Albums (OCC)[27] 157

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[17]	Gold	100,000^^
^^shipments figures based on certification alone

Release history

Region	Date	Label
United Kingdom	27 November 2000	London
Austria	11 December 2000
Germany
Switzerland
Australia	August 2001
Ireland	25 January 2001
Italy	March 2001
New Zealand
United States	30 June 2001
Canada
Japan	22 August 2001	Warner Music Japan

References

1. "British album certifications – Sugababes – One Touch". British Phonographic Industry. Select albums in the Format field. Type One Touch in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
2. "Sugababes bio". 7digital.com. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 7 October 2008.
3. "Sugababes history". BBC.co.uk. 21 December 2005. Retrieved 16 November 2006.
4. Tierney, Paul (9 March 2009). "To Tell You The Truth". Ponystep. Archived from the original on 6 August 2009. Retrieved 6 August 2009.
5. Siobhan Donaghy – we7
6. Carlson, Dean. "One Touch - Sugababes". AllMusic. Retrieved 19 September 2012.
7. "Sugababes: One Touch (London)". Daily Mail. Daily Mail and General Trust. 24 November 2000. Archived from the original on 29 June 2014. Retrieved 19 September 2012. (subscription required)
8. "Sugababes - One Touch". Entertainment Ireland. The Irish Times. 4 December 2000. Archived from the original on 30 March 2014. Retrieved 19 September 2012.
9. Clarke, Betty (24 November 2000). "Living the American teen dream". The Guardian. Guardian Media Group. Archived from the original on 11 May 2013. Retrieved 19 September 2012.
10. Perry, Tim (25 November 2000). "Pop: Album Reviews". The Independent. Independent News & Media. Archived from the original on 25 January 2013. Retrieved 19 September 2012. (subscription required)
11. Brinn, David (20 February 2001). "Sugababes ahead of the pack". The Jerusalem Post. Mirkaei Tikshoret. Archived from the original on 9 April 2016. Retrieved 19 September 2012. (subscription required)
12. McGuire, Samuel (3 December 2000). "Too cool for school; release of the week". The Sunday Herald. Newsquest. Archived from the original on 7 March 2016. Retrieved 19 September 2012. (subscription required)
13. Hyland, Ian (26 November 2000). "Albums of the Week". Sunday Mirror. Trinity Mirror. Archived from the original on 16 November 2018. Retrieved 19 September 2012. (subscription required)
14. Strickland, Andy (30 November 2000). "Sugababes - One Touch". Yahoo! Music. Archived from the original on 13 March 2004. Retrieved 19 September 2012.
15. "AC/DC make it nine in a row for groups atop the albums chart". Music Week. Intent Media. 27 October 2008. Archived from the original on 2 February 2017. Retrieved 26 July 2012.
16. "Sugababes | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 6 May 2013.
17. "British album certifications – Sugababes – One Touch". British Phonographic Industry. Select albums in the Format field. Select Gold in the Certification field. Type One Touch in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
18. "Sugababes rule singles and album charts once again". Music Week. Intent Media. 15 October 2007. Retrieved 19 September 2012.
19. "Discography Sugababes". Irish-charts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 17 September 2012.
20. "Austriancharts.at – Sugababes – One Touch" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 17 September 2012.
21. "Longplay-Chartverfolgung at Musicline" (in German). Musicline.de. Phononet GmbH. Retrieved 17 September 2012.
22. "Swisscharts.com – Sugababes – One Touch". Hung Medien. Retrieved 17 September 2012.
23. "Chartifacts – Week Commencing: 6th August 2001 – Issue #597" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. 6 August 2001. Archived from the original on 21 February 2002. Retrieved 19 September 2012.CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)
24. "Chartifacts – Week Commencing: 20th August 2001 – Issue #599" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. Archived from the original on 21 February 2002. Retrieved 17 September 2012.CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)
25. "Charts.nz – Sugababes – One Touch". Hung Medien. Retrieved 17 September 2012.
26. "Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts (2001)". Retrieved 10 October 2016.
27. "2001 UK Albums Chart" (PDF). ChartsPlus. Retrieved 18 May 2015.

External links

• Sugababes.com — official site