page_title: Black Coffee (All Saints song)
section_title: New arrangement and recording
hierarchical_section_title: Black Coffee (All Saints song) / New arrangement and recording
caption_attribution_description: English: An exterior view of the Olympic Studios in Barnes, London, taken on 27 October 2008.
context_page_description: "Black Coffee" is a song by English-Canadian girl group All Saints from their second studio album, Saints & Sinners. It was released on 2 October 2000 by London Records as the album's second single. The track was produced by William Orbit, and written by Tom Nichols, Alexander von Soos and Kirsty Bertarelli, initially intended as a single for Kirsty under the title "I Wouldn't Wanna Be". It is a mellow electropop song, unique for its production-laden sound featuring breathy keyboards, glitching electronics and elements of acid techno, ambient and R&B music. A sad love song, its lyrics stem from Kirsty's relationship with Swiss entrepreneur Ernesto Bertarelli, detailing feelings of love at first sight and contentment.
  The track was met with general acclaim from music critics who likened it to the group's previous single "Pure Shores" for their wistful chorus delivery and Orbit's obscure production. Its unconventional structure was also cited as influential for the sound of later girl groups such as the Sugababes and Girls Aloud. A commercial success, "Black Coffee" marked All Saints' fifth and final number-one single in the UK.
context_section_description: After much time had passed since the recording arrangement, Nichols stressed whether All Saints were going to record the song at all. Over 40 songs were written for the group's second album, Saints & Sinners, for which William Orbit was enlisted to produce, but Orbit's popularity at the time made it difficult for All Saints to meet with him in studio. It was only after the release of the album's lead single "Pure Shores" in February 2000 that they began working on a follow-up together. Orbit along with Lewis and group member Melanie Blatt gave "I Wouldn't Wanna Be" a new arrangement and renamed the song "Black Coffee".
  Recording took place at Guerilla Beach and Larrabee West in Los Angeles, and at Sarm West and Olympic Studios in London. According to Blatt, their collaboration with Orbit allowed All Saints to explore more experimental genres than those of their previous releases, while Nichols viewed Orbit's production in the new arrangement completely different, and better than that of his own on the original. The "Black Coffee" sessions were more frustrating for group member Natalie Appleton who saw the song as an opportunity for fellow member Nicole Appleton and herself to sing lead vocals for a change because it was not written by Lewis. In the Appletons' 2002 autobiography Together, Natalie wrote that Lewis was "staking her claim" by arriving early for the first session because Blatt sang lead vocals on "Pure Shores" and not her. Per Natalie's suggestion, management eventually let her cut a lead vocal, but she was nervous during the recording and believed they were placating her. "Without support, it is hard to do your best," Natalie recalled in Together, adding that she felt "used and slacked off".
caption: Olympic Studios, one of the four studios in which All Saints recorded "Black Coffee".
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