Sugababes

Angels With Dirty Faces

(Universal)

Don't be fooled by the deceptively pastoral appearance of the Sugababes second album. There's nothing remotely country about this trio of British teenagers; their latest effort is jam-packed with funky bass lines, hip-hop, garage and the kind of vocal athletics favoured by the current R&B crop.

Sugababes' debut The Touch was launched to great acclaim in 2000. At the time, the girls - Keisha Buchanan, Mutya Buena and Siobhan Donaghy - were only 16. Two years later, Donaghy has mysteriously departed and been replaced with Liverpudlian Heidi Range, a former member of what would become Atomic Kitten. The combination works well on this slickly produced album, with each of the three given ample opportunity to demonstrate their considerable vocal talents, while their voices meld perfectly for some complex close harmonies.

The disc opens with the first single Freak Like Me, the lyrics of which suggest these young women are certainly no 'angels' (it also samples a riff from 1980s electronic guru Gary Numan, Are Friends Electric?). It's followed by Blue, which has its foundations in hip-hop but contrasts this with an irresistible singalong chorus. Round Round, which appears on the soundtrack to the Heather Graham film The Guru, was an obvious choice for the second single. Sting makes an unfortunate guest appearance, with the vocals from his own Shape Of My Heart at the epicentre of Shape. But after 12 tracks of sparse drum beats and machine-gun vocals, it's with some relief that Breathe Easy; Acoustic Jam brings the disc to a conclusion. At last, here is a track to reflect the cover art. These young women's voices display a maturity that perhaps isn't evident in their lyrics - or their gushing sleeve credits, of which Ali G would be proud ('thanks 4 bein dere') - but it's still early days for Sugababes.