Santa hasn’t even paid us a visit yet, but Sugababes have already gifted us an early Christmas present that fans have been waiting the better part of a decade for.
If you cast your mind back to 2013, the original three members of the hit girl band (who famously changed line-ups a number of times during their time in the UK charts) reunited under the moniker Mutya Keisha Siobhan, and released the underrated bop Flatline.
A follow-up album was heavily teased, but ultimately never materialised. That is, until now.
On Friday, the three-piece – now once again known as Sugababes – released the album they recorded all those years ago, under the name The Lost Tapes.
The release marks the end of a huge year for the chart-topping girl group, which included a sold-out tour and an appearance at Glastonbury that shut down the Avalon stage due to the whopping round that turned out for them.
“This has been a year of incredibly positive moments for us as a band,” they said in a statement.“We wanted to do something to say a huge thank you to everyone who has supported us on this journey.
“We wrote this album almost eight years ago and remember the magic we felt at the time. For various reasons beyond our control it didn’t get an official release, so it’s with great pride that The Lost Tapes gets a fully independent release from us today.”
They concluded: “A very Merry Christmas, love Sugababes.”
Mutya Buena, Keisha Buchanan and Siobhan Donaghy formed Sugababes as teenagers, with Heidi Range, Amelle Berrabah and Jade Ewen replacing Siobhan, Mutya and Keisha, respectively, as the years went on.
Before the release of The Lost Tapes, Sugababes had released a total of seven studio albums, and achieved six UK number one singles with Freak Like Me, Round Round, Hole In The Head, Push The Button, About You Now and Walk This Way, a collaboration with Girls Aloud.