Follow Me Home (song)
"Follow Me Home" | ||||
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Single by Sugababes | ||||
from the album Taller in More Ways | ||||
B-side | "Living for the Weekend" | |||
Released | 5 June 2006 | |||
Recorded | 2005 | |||
Studio | Metropolis (London, England) | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 3:58 | |||
Label | Island | |||
Songwriter(s) |
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Producer(s) | Jony Rockstar | |||
Sugababes singles chronology | ||||
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"Follow Me Home" is a song by British girl group the Sugababes, released as the fourth single from their fourth studio album, Taller in More Ways (2005). The pop and R&B ballad was written by band members Keisha Buchanan, Mutya Buena and Heidi Range, with Jony Rockstar, Karen Poole and Jeremy Shaw. The producer, Rockstar, developed the idea of a close person as its inspiration. Buena wrote a verse about her daughter, while Buchanan wrote a verse based on her close friend. The song was released as the album's fourth single on 5 June 2006 and contains vocals from Amelle Berrabah in replacement of Buena's, who left the band in December 2005.
"Follow Me Home" received mixed reviews from critics. Although its instrumentation and the group's vocals were praised, the song was criticised as tedious and uninspiring. The single reached the top forty in Ireland and the United Kingdom, and also charted in Romania, Slovakia, and on the
Development and composition
"Follow Me Home" was written by the Sugababes—
"Follow Me Home" is an
Release and reception
In December 2005, Buena left the Sugababes due to "personal reasons",[9] and was replaced by Amelle Berrabah in the same month.[10] Some tracks on Taller in More Ways were subsequently re-recorded to feature Berrabah's vocals in replacement of Buena's; these included "Gotta Be You", "Follow Me Home" and "Red Dress".[8][11] Buena expressed her disappointment with the re-recording of "Follow Me Home", saying: "My verse was talking about my daughter, it was personal."[12] The song was announced as the fourth and final single from Taller in More Ways,[13] and was released as a CD single and digital download on 5 June 2006.[14][15] The CD single contains the radio edit of the song in addition to two remixes.[14] The digital release features a cover of English band Hard-Fi's single "Living for the Weekend".[15]
Critical response
"Follow Me Home" received mixed reviews from critics. K. Ross Hoffman of AllMusic described it as an "aptly pitched inspirational mini-epic",[8] while Stylus Magazine's Nick Southall complimented the song's "luscious, romantic strings."[16] Talia Kraines of BBC noted the song as having a near-level standard of the group's 2003 single, "Too Lost in You".[17] QX gave the song seven out of ten stars, writing: "With this film themed track they’re staying true to their roots and retain their position as leaders amidst the all-girl band rankings".[18] Stuart Heritage of Hecklerspray wrote that the song "benefits from some lovely strings and gorgeous, sultry vocals", although admitted that the single is not as exciting as the album's previous ones.[7] Daily Record's Rick Fulton described the song as one of the group's more thoughtful tracks, but admitted that it lacks "bite".[6] He applauded the Soul Seekerz Vocal Mix version as "breathing life" into it.[6] Alexis Petridis of The Guardian criticised the song as tedious and stated that it "is every bit as gripping as new parents foisting their baby photos on you".[19] Linda McGee of RTÉ.ie considered it "nothing special".[20]
Commercial performance
"Follow Me Home" debuted and peaked at number 32 on the
Promotion
Music video
The music video for "Follow Me Home" was directed by Toby Tremlett, who collaborated with the group on the video for their single "Ugly".[27] Filming of the video took place in Prague, the Czech Republic,[27] and most scenes were filmed in a large house.[28] It is set in winter time and features the Sugababes wearing winter clothing such as thick coats and scarves.[28] The video was released onto the iTunes Store on 23 May 2006 and is featured on the song's CD release.[14][29] The video opens with a scene of an alcohol bottle and a glass next to it.[28] It then cuts to a scene of Berrabah on a couch, while follow-up scenes show Buchanan against a wall and Range on a bed.[28]
An elderly man is shown by a pool located in the house, while a young girl in a swimsuit is on the other side of it.[28] Another elderly man enters a room in the house where there is another girl.[28] Throughout the video, various scenes of older men and younger women appear.[28] Towards the end of the video, Berrabah, Buchanan and Range are shown standing outside in the dark.[28] A car stops next to the trio and they enter it.[28] In the last scene, an elderly man watches by as the car drives off.[28] Avril Cadden from the Sunday Mail praised the video as "great".[30] Former group member Buena expressed her dissatisfaction with it, saying: "I just saw a bunch of perverted men and paedophile guys".[12] The video reached number eight on the UK TV airplay chart.[31]
Live performances
The Sugababes performed "Follow Me Home" in October 2005 at the
Track listings and formats
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Credits and personnel
Credits are adapted from the liner notes of Taller in More Ways.[2]
Recording
- Recorded and mixed at Metropolis Studios, London
Personnel
- Songwriting – Keisha Buchanan, Mutya Buena, Heidi Range, Jonathan Lipsey, Karen Poole, Jeremy Shaw
- Production – Jony Rockstar
- Mixing– Tom Elmhirst
- Engineering– Richard Wilkinson
- Keyboards and guitar – Jeremy Shaw
- Beats – Jony Rockstar
- Bass – Cameron McVey
Charts
Chart (2006) | Peak position |
---|---|
European Hot 100 (Billboard)[26] | 91 |
Ireland (IRMA)[23] | 25 |
Romania ( Romanian Top 100)[24]
|
64 |
Slovakia (Rádio Top 100)[25] | 93 |
32 |
References
- ^ a b c Roginski, Alex (23 January 2006). "Taller in Many Ways". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 28 July 2014. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
- ^ a b c d e Taller in More Ways (album). Sugababes. Universal Island Records. 2005. pp. 14–15. 602498746264.
{{cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link) - ^ a b c d "Sugababes: Taller In More Ways: Track by track". sugababes.com. 4 October 2005. Archived from the original on 6 February 2007. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
- ^ Guardian News & Media. Archived from the originalon 10 July 2013. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
- ^ "Sugababe Buena Gives Birth". Contactmusic.com. 24 March 2005. Archived from the original on 7 January 2013. Retrieved 7 January 2013.
- ^ a b c Fulton, Rick (9 June 2006). "Singles". Daily Record. Retrieved 7 August 2012. (subscription required)
- ^ a b c "Singles Reviews: Furtado! Morrissey! Sugababes!". HecklerSpray. 5 June 2006. Archived from the original on 29 February 2012. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
- ^ a b c Hoffman, K. Ross. "Taller in More Ways – Sugababes". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 21 August 2012. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
- ^ Cochrane, Greg (20 July 2012). "Original Sugababes regroup as Mutya Keisha Siobhan". Newsbeat. BBC. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
- ^ Dingwall, John (26 September 2008). "Exclusive: Sugababe Amelle's private hell". Daily Record. Archived from the original on 21 February 2014. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
- ^ Sturges, Fiona (22 June 2006). "The Sugababes: The new babe on the block". The Independent. Archived from the original on 19 December 2013. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
- ^ a b Patterson, Sylvia (7 April 2007). "Sylvia Patterson talks to ex-Sugababe Mutya Buena about her new solo career". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 20 April 2013. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
- ^ "Sugababes – Follow Me Home". Contactmusic.com. June 2006. Archived from the original on 2 December 2013. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
- ^ a b c d "Follow Me Home (CD1)". Amazon UK. Archived from the original on 8 April 2013. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
- ^ a b c "Follow Me Home (2 track) – Sugababes". 7digital. Archived from the original on 7 March 2016. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
- ^ "Sugababes – Taller In More Ways – Review". Stylus Magazine. 20 October 2005. Archived from the original on 15 December 2006. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
- ^ "Sugababes Taller in More Ways Review". BBC Music. BBC. 23 October 2005. Archived from the original on 8 February 2013. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
- ^ "QX International" (PDF). QX. Firststar. 31 May 2006. p. 22. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 August 2012. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
- ^ Petridis, Alexis (7 October 2005). "CD: Sugababes, Taller in More Ways". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 7 October 2008. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
- Raidió Teilifís Éireann. Archived from the originalon 15 September 2012. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
- ^ a b c d "Sugababes". Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on 19 April 2012. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
- MTV UK. Archived from the originalon 13 October 2012. Retrieved 9 April 2012.
- ^ a b "Irish Charts – Sugababes". Irish-charts.com. Hung Medien. Archived from the original on 13 July 2011. Retrieved 19 January 2013.
- ^ Romanian Top 100. Archived from the originalon 2 July 2006. Retrieved 3 January 2013.
- ^ a b "ČNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: insert 200636 into search. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
- ^ a b "Sugababes – Chart History". Billboard. Archived from the original on 28 January 2013. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
- ^ a b Follow Me Home (CD liner notes). Island Records.
- ^ MTV Australia. Archived from the originalon 4 November 2016. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
- ^ "Follow Me Home – Sugababes". iTunes Store. January 2006. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
- ^ Cadden, Avril (4 June 2006). "Singles and albums out tomorrow". Sunday Mail. Retrieved 28 January 2013. (subscription required)
- ^ "TV airplay chart: Gnarls Barkley and Rihanna hold steady at the top, while LeAnn Rimes climbs to three and Sugababes leap into the Top 10". Music Week. 20 May 2006. Archived from the original on 9 March 2016. Retrieved 7 January 2013. (subscription required)
- ^ Lyons, Beverley; Bennett, Cath (19 October 2005). "Sugababes live last night". Daily Record. Archived from the original on 9 April 2016. Retrieved 8 August 2012. (subscription required)
- ^ "Caught Live: Sugababes". Daily Mirror. 16 April 2006. Archived from the original on 4 August 2014. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
- ^ "Sugababes @ NIA". Birmingham Mail. 10 April 2006. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 28 April 2013.
- ^ Lyons, Beverley; Bennett, Cath (10 June 2006). "Looking good on the dancefloor, the Sugababes return to Top of the Pops". Daily Record. Archived from the original on 8 March 2016. Retrieved 8 August 2012. (subscription required)
- ^ "Follow Me Home (CD2)". Amazon (UK). Archived from the original on 10 December 2008. Retrieved 24 April 2013.