History Music / MutyaKeishaSiobhan

Mutya/Keisha/Siobhan (or "MKS" for short) are an English GirlGroup whose members are Music/MutyaBuena, Keisha Buchanan and Music/SiobhanDonaghy. They were previously the first incarnation of the Music/{{Sugababes}}, active from 1998-2001 before Siobhan Donaghy left the group.

The announcement of their reformation via Website/{{Twitter}}, Website/{{Facebook}} and pop music site ''Popjustice'' on July 20, 2012 ended almost a year of speculation over whether the group were recording material for an upcoming album. They signed to Creator/PolydorRecords in March/April 2012 (through a one million-pound deal) and registered their new name via the European Union on June 27, 2012.

So far it's been confirmed that the trio have worked with:
* Scottish singer Music/EmeliSande
* Singer-songwriter and producer MNEK (who previously wrote "All Fired Up" for Music/TheSaturdays and has since gone on to become famous in his own right as an artist)
* Future Cut (who produced for Music/LilyAllen, Music/{{Shakira}} and Music/{{Stooshe}} among many others)
* Mojam (production team whose members were in the pop group Blazin' Squad)
* Biffco (production team headed by Music/SpiceGirls songwriter Richard “Biff” Stannard)
* Shaznay Lewis (songwriter and former member of All Saints)
* Xenomania (long-time production team of Music/GirlsAloud, spearheaded by Brian Higgins who single-handedly brought the group back together)
* Dev Hynes (known for his solo projects Lightspeed Champion and Blood Orange, as well as his work with Music/FlorenceAndTheMachine, Sky Ferreira and Solange)

However, there are rumours that the group also worked with Craze & Hoax, Asterix, Naughty Boy, Katy B and Professor Green. However, despite several years of writing and recording sessions, an album has not eventuated (most likely because of legal disputes).

In 2019, the group managed to regain the rights to the Sugababes name and brand, meaning that the MKS brand is defunct and they're now operating as the original Sugababes line-up.

!!Confirmed Recorded Songs:
* '''Back In The Day''' (Described by Siobhan as "our Music/{{TLC}} moment")
* '''Beat Is Gone''' (Described by Keisha as "inspired" by the sound of Jessie Ware)
* '''Boys''' (Described as [[ElectronicMusic "EDM"]] -- an acapella clip of the song can be viewed [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kiki7sofCUg here]], and a ''teeny'' three-second soundbite of the studio version can be heard [[https://soundcloud.com/popjustice/mutya-keisha-siobhan-boys/s-1XMB2 here]])
* '''Break My Heart'''
* '''Burnt Out''' (Written and produced by Tom Aspaul, who ultimately kept the track for himself and released his own version some time after MKS recorded their demo version of the song)
* '''Drum''' (Which is an "afrobeat" number, apparently [[InTheStyleOf inspired by the sound of]] Music/{{Rihanna}})
* '''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hf2-wnofsJM Entertainment]]''', a "remix" they supplied vocals for
* '''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wY7g7Gfcm1o Flatline]]''' (A Dev Hynes track which served as the first single from the ultimately-shelved first version of the album)
* '''I'm Alright'''
* '''I Lay Down''' (Presumably the reworked version of “Lay Down in Swimming Pools”)
* '''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAG1_tvxtyQ Lay Down In Swimming Pools]]''' (a track done with Dev Hynes "for fun" and later released to Soundcloud - notable as their first ever publicly-released full-length recording)
* '''Light Up''' (a "90s throwback jam")
* '''Love in Stereo'''
* '''Love Like This''' (written with Sande)
* '''Love Me Hard'''
* '''Metal Heart'''
* '''No Regrets''' (The first track the group recorded)
* '''Only You'''
* '''Summer of '99'''
* '''Three More Days'''
* '''Today'''
* '''Too In Love''' (One of the first tracks the group recorded, produced by Xenomania - James Arthur re-recorded it for his own album as "Get Down" in 2013)
* '''Victory''' (A song written with Music/{{Sia}})
* '''You Make It Happen'''

They now have [[http://www.mutyakeishasiobhan.com/ an official website]], and they can also be found on [[https://twitter.com/MKSOfficial Twitter]], [[https://www.facebook.com/MutyaKeishaSiobhan Facebook]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/user/MKS0fficial Youtube]], as well as many, ''many'' other social networking sites. (Seriously, it would probably be a job to list them all.)

'''Note:''' Any tropes or information pertaining to ''Mutya Keisha Siobhan'' (ie the output of the ''reformed original lineup''), not Sugababes, must go here. Any tropes pertaining to the group when they were still known as "Sugababes" must go on the Sugababes page.

!!Discography:
* ''One Touch'' (as Sugababes) (2000)
* ''TBA''
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!!Tropes:
* TheAlcoholic: Going off the original version by Kendrick Lamar, "Lay Down in Swimming Pools" is all about alcoholism.
* BeachEpisode: The video for "Flatline" takes place on Venice Beach in LA.
* BreakupSong: "Boys" is a cross of the "Over You" and "Don't Want You Back" varieties.
** "Flatline", “Beat is Gone” and “Burnt Out” are about dying relationships.
** “I’m Alright” is about living life after an abusive relationship.
* CallBack: As well as performing songs from ''One Touch'' (and even from later albums), it was heavily implied at one point that the group were going to call themselves "Suga". It's probably better that they changed it ...
** “Back in the Day” is one big Call Back to the group’s earliest years.
* CannotKeepASecret: In 2011-early 2012, Mutya and Siobhan began exchanging tweets about missing a bus. Keisha then said something along the lines of "aren't we supposed to be keeping this [reunion] a secret?"
* CoverVersion: The girls performed a cover of Rihanna's hit single [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2oRvbiGezGY "Diamonds"]] at a New Year's Eve party in London.
* CowboyBeBopAtHisComputer: The general public are still quick to call them "Sugababes". Certainly doesn't help that in a late-2012 interview Keisha stated that their new music [[ShapedLikeItself will sound like Sugababes]].
** After releasing msusic as MKS, there is a rumour that they finally have the rights to the Sugababes name and will be realising any future music as Sugababes.
* DeliberatelyMonochrome: A good portion of their reunion photos from July 2012 have this trope in practice.
* DreamTeam: As well as all the writers and producers the girls have been working with, the group share a publicist with Music/BritneySpears.
* {{Gaslighting}}: “I’m Alright” is about leaving a relationship involving this.
* IronicEcho: During the ''Popjustice'' interview:
--> '''Keisha''': ''Mutya, can I just say something? I found a link the other day which I really want to show you. It’s a clip of you when you’re 16 and they ask you why we came up with the name ‘Sugababes’. And you go: “Well we had to have a band name because we couldn’t have people just calling us Mutya, Keisha, Siobhan.” (Everyone laughs)''
* IntercourseWithYou: “Drum”, “Love Me Hard”
* LoveNostalgiaSong: “Summer of ‘99”, “Love in Stereo”, “Beat is Gone”
* OdeToIntoxication: “Lay Down in Swimming Pools”
* OdeToYouth: “Back in the Day” discusses the time when MKS were just starting out as Sugababes at the age of 14, recording songs in their school uniforms and navigating teenage dramas at the same time.
** “Summer of ‘99” is a more general youth nostalgia song.
* OpenSecret: Though some people were genuinely surprised at the news of the group's forming, for almost an entire year rumours persisted that the "Origibabes" would reunite. This was supported with arguably strong evidence such as Mutya and Keisha tweeting that they were with "two other ladies" at the time of recording and information leaking about their management and record deals, as well as Mutya's court case against the current Sugababes over use of the name.
* PowerBallad: “No Regrets”. “Today” does a fake-out version of this, beginning with strings before kicking into an EDM/trip-hop styled production.
* PowerTrio
* PuttingTheBandBackTogether: The original lineup released an album, ''One Touch'', in 2000 (it featured the singles "Overload" and "Run For Cover"). However, [[{{Catfight}} due to tensions within the group]] Siobhan left in 2001. Mutya and Keisha stayed in the group after their management secretly recruited former Music/AtomicKitten member Heidi Range to take Siobhan's place under the guise of "open auditions", but in late 2005 Mutya left after more disagreements within the group (as well as depression resulting from her newfound motherhood). After Keisha was fired from Sugababes in 2009, a reunion was considered but soon shelved. However, in 2011 the three members decided to come together to record some songs, and MKS was born before resetting as the Sugababes officially in 2019.
* RealSoonNow / DevelopmentHell: Twelve years between projects aside, a single was promised at the end of Summer 2012, but nothing eventuated (possibly due to them firing their manager). However, the album's production is still in "full steam ahead" mode, as the three members frequently post pictures of their recording sessions on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
** SavedFromDevelopmentHell: Their debut single proper was finally released September 2013. The album proper, on the other hand ...
* SelfEmpowermentAnthem: “Victory”, “I’m Alright”, “Today”
* {{Sampling}}: "Lay Down In Swimming Pools" interpolates the melody and the chorus from the Music/KendrickLamar track "Swimming Pools (Drank)".
* SopranoAndGravel: An all-female example. Mutya is the Gravel to Keisha and Siobhan's respective Soprano voices.
* SongStyleShift: In the final 30 seconds of “Drum”, it stops being a percussive Afrobeat dance track and instead dissolves into hazy synths as Siobhan sings her (brief) verse.
* TokenTrio: Working in the same manner as their former group, Sugababes, each member represents a different ethnicity; Siobhan is white (Irish ancestry), Keisha is black (Jamaican ancestry) and Mutya is mixed (Filipina-Chinese-Irish ancestry). Their manager in the 1990s, Ron Tom, likened their appearance to the United Colors of Benetton campaign.
* TheUnreveal: In early 2012, both Mutya and Keisha tweeted about "being in the studio" with two females and Professor Green.
** Mutya tweeted:
--> ''"@ studio wit professor green in tha building and two beautiful ladies"''
** While Keisha wrote:
--> ''"Hanging out in the studio with @professorgreen and two lovely ladies with bags of talent :-p lol"''.
** However Mutya later denied this, saying in response to a fan:
--> ''"No track [with] keisha or professor G he was around tha studio. im jus workin on my stuff @ tha moment"''.
* VocalEvolution: Obviously, since the ladies aren't 15 - 17 years old anymore. Siobhan's tone is now fuller and richer, while Mutya's is darker and more expressive. However, it was arguably Keisha whose voice changed the most out of the three: In the group's early years she was a higher-register soprano, now her voice has deepened enough for her to become a mezzo-soprano (though she can still easily hit high notes).
* WritingAroundTrademarks: The group couldn't use the name "Sugababes" until 2019 because the group that consisted of Heidi Range, Amelle Berrabah and Jade Ewen legally had that name under their record label.
** However, since the official Sugababes fell off the radar presumably for good, Keisha and Mutya started quietly acquiring the rights for the name. Keisha owns the rights to use the name in America, and Mutya owns the rights to use it on some merchandise in the UK. The group officially regained all the rights for the name in 2019.

* RefrainFromAssuming: Apparently "Flatline" was almost a case of this, as the original title for the song was "Jimmy". The word "flatline" appears prominently within the chorus, whereas the mention of "Jimmy" is only barely noticeable within the middle eight.

* BastardBoyfriend: “Metal Heart”

* PuttingTheBandBackTogether: The original lineup released an album, ''One Touch'', in 2000 (it featured the singles "Overload" and "Run For Cover"). However, [[{{Catfight}} due to tensions within the group]] Siobhan left in 2001. Mutya and Keisha stayed in the group after their management secretly recruited former Music/AtomicKitten member Heidi Range to take Siobhan's place under the guise of "open auditions", but in late 2005 Mutya left after more disagreements within the group (as well as depression resulting from her newfound motherhood). After Keisha was fired from Sugababes in 2009, a reunion was considered but soon shelved. However, in 2011 the three members decided to come together to record some songs, and MKS was born.

* WritingAroundTrademarks: The group couldn't use the name "Sugababes" because the group currently consisting of Heidi Range, Amelle Berrabah and Jade Ewen legally have that name under their record label.
** However, since the official Sugababes fell off the radar presumably for good, Keisha and Mutya have been quietly acquiring the rights for the name. Keisha owns the rights to use the name in America, and Mutya owns the rights to use it on some merchandise in the UK.

The announcement of their reformation via Website/{{Twitter}}, Website/{{Facebook}} and pop music site ''Popjustice'' on July 20, 2012 ended almost a year of speculation over whether the group were recording material for an upcoming album. They signed to Polydor in March/April 2012 (through a one million-pound deal) and registered their new name via the European Union on June 27, 2012.

* CutSong: LOADS. The group has so far recorded 50 or 60 songs for the album, so many of them are bound for the cutting room floor.

* RealitySubtext: “Victory” proclaims that “it’s our victory”, possibly referencing the tribulations of being in the Sugababes and the legal trouble MKS had to deal with in order to release their music.

* ‘’’I Lay Down’’’ (Presumably the reworked version of “Lay Down in Swimming Pools”)

* ‘’’Love in Stereo’’’

** "Flatline" tells of a dying relationship.

* SelfEmpowermentAnthem: “Victory”

* SongStyleShift: In the final 30 seconds of “Drum”, it stops being a percussive Afrobear dance track and instead dissolves into hazy synths as Siobhan sings her (brief) verse.

* Eighteen-year-old singer-songwriter and producer MNEK (who previously wrote "All Fired Up" for Music/TheSaturdays)

* Biffco (production team headed by Music/SpiceGirls songwriter Richard Stannard)

* '''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wY7g7Gfcm1o Flatline]]''' (A Dev Hynes track confirmed to be the first single from the album)

* '''Love Like This''' (Written with Sande)

* '''Too In Love''' (One of the first tracks the group recorded, produced by Xenomania)

* ''TBA'' (2014)

However, there are rumours that the group also worked with Craze & Hoax, Asterix, Naughty Boy, Katy B and Professor Green. The trio have confirmed that the album will be released early 2014.

** SavedFromDevelopmentHell: Their debut single proper will be released in September 2013.
*** Or so they said...