All Saints Are Back

At the tail-end of the last millennium, there was no cooler – or better - female group than All Saints. Natalie, Nicole, Mel and Shaznay got together in London in the mid-'90s, hoping to emulate the sassy, streetwise pop success of US R&B acts like SWV and TLC.

They wrote their own tunes, wore their own clothes (combat pants, because they were cheap) and made music that was as popular with the fashionistas and festival goers as it was with pop tarts.

Now the band release their first album in five years, ‘Studio 1’ next week. As implied by that titular nod to the great Studio One label, the band have added some new sounds to their sonic arsenal, with the album bursting with 60s-tinged reggae, ska, dancehall and rock steady.

In fact, that last style provides the title to the band's first single since January 2001, Rock Steady and one listen to its sultry, infectious skank and you realise how much we've missed them.

Rock Steady opens Studio 1, where it's followed by the electro-pulsin' tales of desire (Chick Fit) and the glorious, trumpet-soaked bounce of Scar.

From there, the album is a joyful blast through dreamy love songs (On & On), jilted rants (Hell No) and super-confident put-downs (Too Nasty). It's punchy and fresh as a daisy. In other words, it's exactly how you'd hope All Saints would sound in 2006.

The album was recorded at Mayfair studios in London with producers/writers KG (who's worked with them since their earliest days), Greg Kurstin (Peaches, Jamelia, Flaming Lips and Lily Allen) and Rick Nowels (Madonna, Dido and kd lang).