Produced by Dev Hynes, and written by the girls along with Hynes, Flatline is an uptempo, sunny R&B-tinged pop rock song reminiscent of the work of HAIM, Teagan & Sara, and various other indie pop bands from the same time. It describes a relationship going sour, with the protagonist bidding her lover goodbye knowing this isn't how things were supposed to be.

 

I discovered this song a few years ago when the Sugababes re-released it under the proper Sugababes name instead of the uninspired Mutya Keisha Siobhan moniker, but it was only recently that I became obsessed with it. What a brilliant, breezy little tune, and what a perfect comeback for the 1.0 line-up as well as for the Sugababes in general after the disastrous Sweet 7 era (Wear My Kiss and About a Girl are still major bops though). I think this song has aged incredibly well, and could come out today virtually unchanged and feature on a dozen or so critics' year-end lists. Very excellent mix of poppy catchiness with indie poignancy and R&B soulfulness, the vocals are absolutely divine on this one.

 

If you haven't heard it yet, I must implore you to do so now. If you have heard it already, what do you feel about it? Did it do the Sugababes justice or was it a miss for you?

Edited September 13, 20232 yr by ithinkheknowsoutsold

One of their best songs.

Absolute excellence. The mood and the vibes when this plays are crazy. You can feel the storyline and the vocal performance seals it all.

They did? 

 

The last song i remember from them is about you now. 

 

And after hearing flatline, No harm done 

A shame they were blacklisted by their former management during this time.

I've given up on them but I still need a third Siobhan album. Ghosts is one of the best pop albums EVER. 

12 hours ago, Hustler said:

Absolute excellence. The mood and the vibes when this plays are crazy. You can feel the storyline and the vocal performance seals it all.

100% agree. I would kill for an album in this vein.

Never liked it. But they should have kept going, not disappearing right after it bombed 

Aging like fine wine too