After possibly the strongest run of singles The Saturdays have had since their first LP ‘Chasing Lights’ way back in 2009, ‘Living For The Weekend’ ought to have been a return to form for the band after the disappointing performance of Fourth LP ‘On Your Radar.’ After a few listens, it sort of is, and it sort of isn’t.
In all honesty, the album tracks themselves are underwhelming. ‘Don’t Let Me Dance Alone’ is a bland club number, and ‘Leave A Light On’ is a plodding piano-driven mid-tempo ballad. ‘You Don’t Have The Right’ is an overly wrought emotional outpouring, something The Saturdays are normally good at, but bizarrely have underscored with a dubstep twinge for a truly jarring listen. ‘Anywhere With You’ is a fairly anoynomous slice of EDM too, but is at least the most commendable of the album tracks apart from a heinous rap that’s so embarrassing it didn’t even warrant a guest feature.
Things get better with ‘Problem With Love’ which boasts an impressively towering chorus and military style beats that hark back to the strongest days of Girls Aloud. It’s easily overshadowed though by ‘Somebody Else’s Life’ and clear candidate for fifth single territory, ‘Not Giving Up On Love.’ The former is a bouncy slice of electro-pop, strongly driven by a lead from voice of the group Vanessa and reminiscent of The Saturdays greatest hits ‘Higher’ and ‘Ego’. ‘Not Giving Up On Love’ rivals ‘All Fired Up’ as the best dance track The Saturdays have ever released with aggressive, building beats rising to a truly awesome chorus.
The singles are obviously a flawless outfit. 2012 single ’30 Days’ is probably the weakest of the four, but that’s only because it’s not all that memorable. Chart-topper ‘What About Us’ brings some welcome calypso flair to the piece, livening up the murky pool of electro-pop and EDM driven numbers, and the guest feature from Sean Paul elevates it to one of the strongest tracks from the album. ‘Gentleman’ is an underrated gem, with the brilliantly bizarre rap name-checking today’s ‘gentleman’ the highlight of the album. Current single ‘Disco Love’ is fun and floaty: it’s basically The Saturdays by numbers.
Ultimately, ‘Living For The Weekend’ really struggles once you’re past the singles. The Saturdays might protest they aren’t a singles group, but this album begs to differ. There’s a staggering lack of personality to the piece. The album tracks could fit into almost anyone else’s repertoire. The artwork sums it all up – The Saturdays started out full of colour, but five albums on they’ve been drained into dull monochrome.