Red Flag

2016 release, the first studio album in a decade by the British pop outfit. 12 million record sales, five #1 singles, two multi-platinum albums and two Brit awards. The stats speak for themselves. Now, it sounds great to have them back, reminding you of something you had perhaps forgotten you missed quite so much. What is so special about this record is how contemporary it sounds without ever losing the core essence of All Saints, forever wrapped up in the magical conflagration of their four voices. This is what they do. As they turned from their teens to their twenties, All Saints were the symbolic British girl-band gateway to the new millennium. They were an irrepressible, immediately identifiable gang that would mascot us through to the 21st century. With music touched by a panoply of sharply honed influences, from The Shirelles through '90s hip hop, disco, slouchy club electronica and touched all over with the proximity the women grew up to Notting Hill Carnival, they were the flip-side of the tween-pop sound of their peers. Now 19 years after their debut instruction, against several striking odds, All Saints know exactly where it's at again.