Stronger

## **Stronger**Single by Sugababes

**Stronger** is the third single and fourth track of the Sugababes' sophomore album, *Angels with Dirty Faces*. The Sugababes, Keisha Buchanan, Mutya Buena, and Heidi Range wrote the song in collaboration with Jony Rockstar, Marius de Vries and Felix Howard. It was released as a double A-side with the album's title track.

## Background

"Stronger" was conceptualised during the period in Range's life when she had not yet joined the group and was separated from her family and friends. Range related her experience to the writing process of "Stronger", a technique which she suggested was essential for songwriting. "Stronger" is considered as her favourite song from the group's career, and considers it personal to her.

"Stronger" is a downtempo pop and R&B ballad, with elements of hip hop. It features a slow and dark melody, and is reminiscent of the Sugababes' 2001 One Touch single "Run for Cover". According to NME's Alex Needham, "Stronger" has a similar musical style to the American R&B group En Vogue. Graeme Virtue of The Sunday Herald compared the ballad to the music of English group Massive Attack, writing: "The orchestral sweep of 'Stronger' aims for Massive Attack-style emotional sweep". "Stronger" is a self-empowerment ballad that contains an "I-will-survive" testimony; the chorus is opened with the line, "I'm all alone, and finally, I'm getting stronger".

### Release

"Stronger" was released as the album's third single as part of a double A-side with the album's title track in CD, cassette and 12-inch single formats on 11 November 2002. To promote its release, the Sugababes played the track to the Birmingham Mail in October 2002 as part of an interview, and visited 95.8 Capital FM in November 2002.

### Performance

"Stronger" debuted at number seven on the UK Singles Chart in 29 November 2002 as a part of its double A-side release with the album's title track. It became the third consecutive single from Angels with Dirty Faces to reach the top 10 in the UK and eventually spent thirteen weeks on the chart. The double A-side has sold 125,000 copies in the United Kingdom, placing it twelfth on the Sugababes' list of highest-selling singles. The song peaked within top 40 in Australia, New Zealand, and other European countries.

## Track listing

UK/Europe Enhanced CD 1 Single
1. Stronger (Album Version) - 4:01
2. Angels With Dirty Faces (Audio Drive Remix) - 8:01
3. Stronger (Almighty Club Mix) - 7:52
4. Stronger (Video)

UK/Europe Enhanced CD 2 Single
1. Angels with Dirty Faces - 3:08
2. Stronger (Antoine 909 Remix) - 7:36
3. Stronger (Recorded Live At Leeds University, 5th October 2002) - 4:13
4. Angels With Dirty Faces (Video)

Europe Enhanced CD 1 Single
1. Stronger (Album Version) - 4:01
2. Stronger (Almighty Club Mix) - 8:01
3. Groove Is Going On - 4:05
4. Stronger (Video)

Cassette Single
1. Stronger (Album Version)
2. Angels With Dirty Faces (Album Version)
3. Stronger (Almighty Club Mix)

## Personnel

* Arranged By [Strings Arranged By] – Chris Elliot
* Mixed By – Jony Rockstar, Tom Elmhirst
* Producer – Jony Rockstar
* Recorded By, Programmed By [Additional Programming By] – Tom Elmhirst
* Written-By – Howard, Range, Lypsey, Buchanan, De Vries, Buena

## Music video

The accompanying music video for "Stronger" was directed by Alison Murray. It was filmed in September 2002 in London. Range played a stripper in the video, while Buena portrayed a gangster and Buchanan was a heartbroken woman. Range described being semi-naked in front of the camera as "weird, and very invasive". The video opens with a scene of Buena in a moving car down the streets in London, where she is sitting next to a man on the phone. She boils up the courage to leave her superstar boyfriend. After the car stops at a red light, she gets out of it and walks away, leaving her boyfriend behind yelling at her.

## Mixes and Remixes

Sugababes has officially released two remixes for "Stronger" featuring "Audio Drive Remix" and Antoine909. An "Almighty Club" mix is featured in the Enhanced CD version.

## References

1. ↑ CD 1 - Stronger/Angels with Dirty Faces. Discogs. https://www.discogs.com/release/1794920-Sugababes-Stronger-Angels-With-Dirty-Faces
2. ↑ CD 2 - Stronger/Angels with Dirty Faces. Discogs. https://www.discogs.com/release/1292190-Sugababes-Stronger-Angels-With-Dirty-Faces
3. ↑ Europe Enhanced CD - Stronger/Angels with Dirty Faces. Discogs. https://www.discogs.com/release/616421-Sugababes-Stronger
4. ↑ Cassette - Stronger/Angels with Dirty Faces. Discogs. https://www.discogs.com/release/15844088-Sugababes-Stronger-Angels-With-Dirty-Faces

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