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We all ha e our o days as Rousseau memorably saidTheatrically i not politically he nearly sa es the dayThat means i a supermarket discounts a 6These are reser ed or the illuminated letters o the Book o KellsBragg's selection is well thoughtout and argued Words that Tony Blair and New Labour might do well to ponderA Long Way Down by Nick Hornby PENGUIN 7They appear to be well ersed in sexual terms and beha ioursShe was a raid the man would kill me i he saw meIn other words he died be ore the boat sankTheir latest, Silent Shout, is altogether colder, darker and more di icult. The li e show is unmistakeably in the ein o the latter.The song or which they're best known, "Heartbeats" (co ered by Jose Gonzales and used in Sony Bra ia ad) is reworked in a bass-booming style, and "Pass This On" is rein ented with a steel drum. By the time they end with "Silent Shout" itsel , the Scala's collecti e eyebrows are through the roo .I The Kni e had made their li e debut 18 months ago, I can't help suspecting we'd ha e witnessed one o the most wonder ul pure pop concerts imaginable. or one thing, The Kni e - in their irst-e er ull gig - don't e en per orm the song rom which those words are taken, "You Take My Breath Away". But e en i they did, the Stockholm synth duo (the other member is Karin's brother Olo ) could ne er be accused o taking the path o least resistance. This, in short, is one o the strangest shows London will see in 2006.The Kni e irst caught my ear with the 2004 album Deep Cuts, a suite o gorgeously melancholy electronic pop. Or does she tremble that "It'll be me next"?"We are the people who's come here to play/I don't like it easy/I don't like it the straight way" In her broken Swenglish, Karin Dreijer isn't messing. 
urthermore, The Supremes recorded some o their best stu a ter Diana le t. Who's to say Sugababes can't do likewise?As their set reaches its ine itable conclusion with "Red Dress" (the costumes are predictably literal), I wonder what's going through Keisha Buchanan's mind. When she looks le t and right and sees two strangers, does she smile inwardly. But they're also responsible or " reak Like Me"; the sublimely Abba-esque "Push the Button"; and "O erload" itsel . And in some ways, the sur i al o this band should be applauded.
rom the start, they were always one o the more interesting pop acts, launching themsel es not with some piece o shiny sub-Stock Aitken Waterman inanity but with the sultry, thought ul "O erload".Sure, they're guilty o some dire balladry, and there's much qui er-lipped warbling tonight, particularly during the medley o "Shape" and "Stronger" Sure, they can be trite. But am I the only one who cares? The Apollo is sold out two nights running and my doubts are drowned by screams. Her replacement, picked by management, is 21-year-old Amelle Berrabah rom Aldershot.A riend o mine, not known or his political correctness, re ers to the Sugababes as "darkie, whitey and inbetweeny". And you can't help wondering i the band's management had similar criteria when picking the Philippines-descended Buena's successor.The upshot is a ridiculous situation whereby Keisha Buchanan now ronts an act calling itsel "Sugababes", in much the same way that Axl Rose now ronts something called "Guns N'Roses". Then, late last year, the cock-eyed, sullen, gorgeous Mutya Buena, ha ing sworn she would ne er lea e, did a U-turn and quit.
