The Saturdays - On Your Radar

The Saturdays have released their third studio album, ‘On Your Radar’, and it seems that the once power ballad pretty girls have took a different direction. Result? Well, they have definitely not tried to separate themselves from the all-so-similar chart artists. The majority of their track list is heavily club-produced, and although you should appreciate the versatility of artists, this new turn in their music seems to have removed The Saturdays’ philosophy. Like their faces masked by makeup, their distinguished sound seems to be ridden by the metallic club synth which happens to be in every chart song at the moment. Original?

Travie Mccoy makes an unexpected feature in ‘The Way You Watch Me’, a composition which has been highly anticipated. Mccoy’s recognisable vocals flounces over the track, this sort of R&B ballad is flounced in guitar riffs and boasts in liveliness. Unlike most of the floor fillers on the album, this certainly accentuates the girls’ bouncy, energising voices, which combine to form a harmony over the track. However, the lyrics do get a tad repetitive, just like the dance tune ‘All Fired Up’. It flaunts in synthesised vocals and the high pitch, fast-paced squeals in the bridge of this song probably defines it and the same is replicated in ‘For Myself’.

For saying The Saturdays co-wrote the album, it lacks creative flair, “I’m a outlaw, I’m the big boss
I’m a gangster on the dance floor”. Nice. If you choose not to listen to the lyrics in ‘Notorious’ you can say it is probably one of the better produced dancey songs on the album.

Despite ‘My Heart Takes Over’ being a typical Saturdays tune, it is one of the only highlights on the album. It shows the girls can actually succeed when staying within their comfort zone. Those of you who watch X Factor could easily guess how Gary Barlow would respond if this song was performed. Quite boring. The mundaneness is reflected in the UK chart, as the girls failed to maintain their number 15 slot. The sort of good mood you find yourself in when listening to this song gets trampled on as the droney tones of ‘Get Ready Get Set’ comes into play.

The heart felt lyrics of ‘Wish I Didn’t Know’ can be comparable to a majority of sadness which appear in our love lives. When you remove the edited parts from the song, the acoustic skeleton that remains is very beautiful.

‘Last Call’ is probably my favourite song on the album. It is sweet and simple as the piano and strings accentuate the emotional vocals. We have certainly found The Saturdays’ forte. The passionate dynamics in the girls’ voices matches the negative effects of a break up which are reflected in the lyrics.

It is safe to say that we can definitely place the emotional songs from the album on to a cafés playlist which caters for mothers meetings. Without the mess of produced percussion which is only good enough for drunken people in nightclubs, I think we can come to the conclusion that The Saturdays are tolerable. Well done for making it to album three without achieving a number one in the charts.