Who knew that nu-nu-nu-Sugababes had this in them?
[Video][Website]
[6.17]
Anthony Easton: I’m reading Alice Echols’ great book on disco right now — and she talks about how disco lost something when it went from the gay clubs to the mainstream, but because people don’t spend a lot of time thinking or constructing the mainstream’s response to this kind of work, we never quite know how to problematize the narrative; for some reason this song reminds me of that transition in one track. It pendulums — from inspirational choruses to choruses of an erotic anonomity that suggest a leather clad dance floor. It goes from discussions of blacked out gazes and how the night covers us, and the shy that turns curious, and other notices of erotic menace, but the chorus is pure “up with people” — what freedom are they talking about here exactly? It’s a mess, but a fascinating one.
[8]
Katherine St Asaph: The Invisible Men can’t help that all these Sugababes are replacements, but they stick them with “I wanna be nameless for a little while” anyway? The verses are foreboding enough, the percussion thrashing and the marimba stalking, but then they turn into bosh after boring bosh, each more RedOne than the last. Raising fists for freedom would be pandering if they were American, so they double down with that all-purpose global cliche: “tonight!” Unlike “Get Sexy,” “Freedom” is competent, but it’s not thanks to anyone involved but despite them.
[6]
Brad Shoup: Hurrah to the Invisible Men for waiting until I was deep into the track before deploying any asinine touches. Beginning with an opening couplet more literary than was required, then introducing a bell-like melodic figure redolent of espionage movies, the stage is set for an ironic romp in the “Toxic” mode, but then the sincere refrain erupts with its pitched-down echoes. If you’re generous, you can conclude having the ‘Babes repeat the syllable “dum” four times is some sort of sly gesture, and maybe it’s best to spend time considering that possibility instead of the terrifying, chaotic dubstep breakdown. But again, I had been gotten by that point.
[7]
Pete Baran: Freedom could be the sound of any generic girl group launched in 2011, and not strong enough to pop its head above the parapet by itself. And in many ways it is, Sugababes 4.0 is a victory for overt franchising in a pop world where perhaps in 20 years time being a Sugababe is your reward for being a half decent singer. I think its probably all about the banging mixes, this is probably the right kind of comeback for the idea of the Sugababes to have.
[5]
Edward Okulicz: Until the second half of the chorus (the “tonight is the night” bit), I could actually have been fooled into thinking the song dated from the Angels With Dirty Faces era, when they seemed like a tight little gang growing up amidst dickhead men and hormones. Then the big generic club soar comes in and you realise that time and personnel changes have removed anything even remotely distinctive about the Sugababes. And then there’s a dubstep breakdown, put in for no reason other than that everyone else is doing it. Hey girls, and their team, everyone else is totally breaking up right now.
[2]
Michaela Drapes: This is how you do a floor-filling anthem to omnisexuality, btw. I’m running away with that arpeggiated synth bit and never coming back; we’re taking the beyond catchy chorus with us, too. Icy, sensual, full-throated: this may be the upteenth iteration of the Sugababes, but I’m not complaining.
[9]