Sugababes’ ‘One Touch’ is Lowkey One of the Greatest British Coming of Age Albums

For me, the year 2000 was defined by three things: misplaced panic around the millennium bug, my first year of secondary school and the release of the Sugababes' debut album One Touch – which was not only the first album I ever bought, remaining on steady rotation for the next five years of my life, but is also arguably one of the greatest and most underrated coming-of-age albums of all time.

Let's get into it: The original trio, marketed as the 'United Colors of Benetton' of girl bands due to their diverse make-up, were Mutya Buena, Keisha Buchanan and Siobhan Donaghy. Their music was made even more exciting due to the fact the two former girls were from a school down the road from my own, and – I can't confirm if this is true, but – I have a distinct memory of my best friend at the time bragging that her older brother, who went to the same school as them, had beaten up Keisha's brother.

The Sugababes emerged that very September with lead single "Overload" – a smoothly produced R&B track that deals with a teenage girl's giddy infatuation with a boy. So far, so standard. Notably, though, the girls themselves were very much involved in the songwriting process, with co-writing credits on almost every track on the album. Coupled with the fact that they were all 15 and 16 years old at the time, this gave the content of their songs an injection of authenticity, and although I was too young to truly "get" some of the more mature themes of the album when it was first released, One Touch aged gracefully alongside me. Soon enough, the lyrics "it's a one-way ticket to a madman's situation" and "oh my god, can't say no" became way less enigmatic.

Despite a BRIT nomination for "Overload", One Touch only peaked at number 26 in the UK charts (although it fared better overseas), and the band were promptly dropped by their record label over low sales. Still, the album provided a poignant and totally relatable soundtrack for the defining events of my teenage years, and that of my mates'. By the age of 15, many have already had their first sexual experience, had their heart broken, fallen out with a friendship group and battled the adults around them for increased autonomy and independence. Siobhan, Keisha and Mutya showed that whether you like it or not, and for better or worse, teenage girls are often having more adult experiences than you'd assume – a point that was deftly made by Keisha in their World Pop interview, "I just write from experiences. People say that because we're only 16, we don't have any life experience, but we do".

"Overload" and "One Touch" dealt with the overwhelming intensity of first love, "Same Old Story" and "Promise" were powerful break-up anthems that displayed a quiet female strength, "Just Let It Go" was an ode to that one mate who is dating a wasteman and deserves better but is scared to leave him in case they end up alone forever. "Run for Cover", the group's third single off the album, features a plinking piano and haunting violins, and is arguably the record's darkest track. The video sees the three teenagers in cabs and underground subways sporting winged eyeliner, gold hoops and generally iconic looks from the ends (baby Mutya looks particularly sensational in a black satin ensemble). Watching it now reminds me of being too young to go out properly, so you end up telling your parents you're staying at a mate's when you're actually drinking bottled vodka and cokes with guys in the year above and sneaking into clubs with fake ID.

"Look At Me" was clearly the album's lowkey gem though. Preceding Britney's better-known "I'm Not a Girl, Not Yet A Woman" by a year, the track perfectly captures that very specific teenage feeling of needing more freedom than the adults around you want to accept, with lyrics that ask to be allowed the space to make your own mistakes. They sing: "Let me fly to my own fate a little please / Wrap me up and guard no more / And I'll never learn" over a skippy, syncopated beat that incorporates elements of jungle. To that end, One Touch is an album from three teenage girls that has stood the test of time in a way many others have not. Its blend of pop and R&B, with inflections of garage and 2-step, mean it's both a quintessential product of its time and years ahead of it.

Despite the album's critical acclaim, there was much made about the girls' ages: pretty much every review of the album and their live performances touched on it. One critic at Sputnikmusic described One Touch as "delightfully sultry but never inappropriately promiscuous"; The Guardian's review of their first gig noted that "there is much that is uncomfortable about three London schoolgirls performing a set of sexually-charged songs. Mercifully, they opt for cheap, comfortable trousers and tops rather than out-and-out glamour", as if young female pop stars wearing sexy clothes whilst singing about boys would be far too much for one man to handle. AllMusic lauded the album for its "feeling and sincerity", but still described the trio as an "awkward, provocative outfit". Indeed, One Touch is a great example of the fact that although society often treats them as silly little girls, young women are often dealing with far more complex issues and emotions than they are given credit for.

This is particularly the case in inner-city schools and areas such as those in which the trio grew up in, where there's more stuff to do and therefore more experiences to be had and more trouble to get in. In fact, the group were initially called The Sugababies, with the name changed to Sugababes to give them a more mature image (and perhaps better reflect the fact that 16-year-old girls are not, scientifically, babies). In a climate in which girl bands weren't taken seriously,  brushed off as music for teenage girls – the most derided musical demographic as far as critics and old blokes are concerned – One Touch was a credible, brilliantly produced and poignant album that presented a worldly wisdom far beyond that which was expected of its members.

Sadly, the original Sugababes didn't last long: Siobhan left in 2001 following claims of bullying within the group – a notion that isn't particularly hard to believe considering their age and the fact her other two band mates had been friends since primary school. Despite Siobhan's departure a year after the release of their debut album, the Sugababes would last for another 12 years in various guises and with a rotating membership that put even Destiny's Child to shame.

Siobhan was replaced by Heidi Range in 2001; Mutya left in 2005 to focus on being a mother and her solo career; Amelle Berrabah then stepped in to replace her. By 2009, Keisha, the final member of the original line-up, also left the group in a move that she claimed was not her decision. She was duly replaced by new member Jade Ewen within days, leaving the Sugababes as a strange hybrid band comprised of no founding members. The group lasted a few more years and one more album, with Ewen finally confirming the group had split in an interview in 2013.

Since then, the original Sugababes have made moves to trademark the name and attempted a comeback as Mutya Keisha Siobhan (MKS) in 2012. Following studio-time with One Touch producer Cameron McVey alongside Dev Hynes and Naughty Boy, the trio released single "Flatline" – a poppy summer anthem accompanied by a colourful hyper-saturated video filmed in California's Venice Beach – in August 2013. Despite the fact it's a genuinely decent banger, the track went largely ignored, and their debut album has yet to be released despite a four year wait. My professional opinion is that it will probably never happen.

In a 2012 Pop Justice interview Siobhan says, "I think that album has stood the test of time really well. It doesn't sound dated." Maybe the (prudish and British) public were not ready for the pre-eminent pop innovators and their rawness at the time, still stuck in a place where the sexless choreography of bands like Steps were far more palatable. Unlike a lot of UK pop music from the turn of the century, One Touch not only holds true as an engaging snapshot of adolescent self-discovery, but manages to still bang seventeen years after its release. Put it on and tap into your inner teenage girl – the world would probably be a better place if we all did so more often.

You can find Nilu reliving the good Sugababes times on Twitter.