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Is the world ready for a new Same Difference song? Because there is one and here it is

  • October 5, 2009
  • Popjustice

When Same Difference were signed by Syco after the 2007 X Factor run they were very excited about unleash­ing their colourful, uncom­plic­ated inter­pret­a­tion of pop onto the charts. There was a lot of chatter about 'bringing pop back' but when their material emerged it was a very specific type of pop which and one which was even­tu­ally marketed directly, unapo­lo­get­ic­ally and ulti­mately rather unsuc­cess­fully at an audience of children.

In a post-High School Musical climate it might have seemed a good idea, but High School Musical put movies at the heart of its brand and flogged music as an after­hought, just as aggress­ively as it flogged pencil cases and sticker books. Trying to build a kid-friendly lifestyle brand around music didn't quite pan out for Same Difference. Their debut album's heart was in the right place but didn't capture the S Club-esque stars it was reaching for, and in major label terms it wasn't workable. They left their label, and they left their man­age­ment. The End. 

EXCEPT NOT THE END AT ALL ACTUALLY.

Sean and Sarah are now back with a song which is better than anything on their debut album. It is called 'Souled Out' (clever play on words there readers) and it sounds a bit like this. (Well it sounds a lot like because this is literally it.)

[audio:souledout.mp3]

Quite good? Yes. Quite good indeed. A little bit more soph­ist­ic­ated without trying to be La Roux (although COULD YOU IMAGINE), with a massive balls-out melody in the chorus. Job done, pack your bags, hometime, get the kettle on — it's in the bag.

Incidentally, if you're in the mood for seeing Sean and Sarah perform this live on stage, and if you happen to be within trav­el­ling distance of London, you're in luck: they're onstage at AND HOSTING tonight's Popshow Gold. Full details are here — as ever with Popshow the lineup veers wildly between the note­worthy and the unre­lent­ingly woeful but that's part of the fun. That Waterloo band we mentioned a couple of months ago are also on stage, along with Niah (needs some work but along the right sort of lines) and the demen­tedly dramatic sound of Elouise. Basically if you start drinking straight after work and get there for 8pm the whole thing will seem brilliant.

  • la roux
  • same difference
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Greatest hits
  • Kylie Minogue interview: "I do like cosmic thoughts"
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  • Max Martin interview: "I’ve begun to feel that, well, I kind of know how to write a song now"
Further reading
  • 1
    Congratulations to Charli XCX and Lorde: winners of the 2024 Popjustice Twenty Quid Music Prize
  • 2
    The 2024 Twenty Quid Music Prize: Shortlist
  • 3
    The 2023 Popjustice Twenty Quid Music Prize: Shortlist
  • 4
    Fine, let's do a Substack then.
  • 5
    The 2022 Popjustice Twenty Quid Music Prize: shortlist
  • 6
    2021 Popjustice Twenty Quid Music Prize: Laura Mvula wins
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