London With The Lights On

This Motown-lite trio had two big hits – ‘Love Me’ and ‘Black Heart’ – early last year, yet their debut album has only just managed to make its way to the stores. Why is that? Record label interference seems likely, and so this album – which Stooshe have been working on since 2010 – is facing high expectations from critics and fans alike. With this in mind, are the lights flickering, or are they still glaring bright?

The deluxe edition boasts twenty tracks, which proves to be one of the album’s downfalls as this excessive content includes various filler songs which could be ignored. Nevertheless, there are many gems to be found in London With The Lights On: ‘Kiss Chase’ is a retro-rock love ditty with a pop twist, which could be a perfect summer single. Meanwhile, ‘Here Comes The Hotstepper’ (a cover of the 1994 hit by Ina Kamoze) is a hip-shaking funk-fest, hidden away as a deluxe edition track. ‘Slip’, the album’s proper lead single, has nuances of Lionel Ritchie and Bobby Brown, whilst retaining an undercurrent of relevance and originality.

Still, there are many tracks which the album could have done without, as their production feels uninspired and tiring. ‘Fly Again’ (one of the few tracks not produced by Future Cut) is a poorly-constructed bore of a ballad, while the stagnant trio of ‘Inbred City’, ‘Shame’ and ‘Whatta Man’ bring the album to a disappointing conclusion.

Stooshe form the kind of lush harmonies which haven’t tingled our eardrums since the likes of Destiny’s Child and TLC in the ’90s”

A certain highlight of London With The Lights On is the vivid and striking vocal capabilities of all three members, which makes a change from the equation of “strong lead singer + weak backing vocalists” which makes up many girl bands (I’m looking at you, Pussycat Dolls and Girls Aloud!). Karis Anderson, Courtney Rumbold, and Alexandra Buggs each shine as individuals, yet they also come together to form the kind of lush harmonies which haven’t tingled our eardrums since the likes of Destiny’s Child and TLC in the ’90s.

Being one of the few girl-bands in the industry at the moment, Stooshe certainly had a lot of potential to make their debut fantastic, but – despite the many postponements and re-orderings – the album isn’t quite as good as it could have been. Even so, their throwback RnB sound is a refreshing change from the commercial dance-pop regurgitated by the likes of Little Mix and The Saturdays, and here’s hoping their label will see them through for a few more albums.

Similar To: TLC, Sugababes

MP3: ‘Kiss Chase’, ‘Love Me’