It was written by Sugababes members Keisha Buchanan and Heidi Range in collaboration with Miranda Cooper, Brian Higgins, Tim Powell, Lisa Cowling and Nick Coler, and produced by Xenomania. "Never Gonna Dance Again" is a midtempo pop song that displays musical elements of dance-pop. Its lyrical content is in reference to the break-up of a relationship which is set on a dancefloor. During the chorus, Sugababes sing the lines "I lost the rhythm when you said it's over / As the final record starts to fade, I feel the dancefloor turning colder". The Guardian's Alexis Petridis and Schultz have both noted that the song's lyrical content is reminiscent to that of George Michael's song, "Careless Whisper".
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Kim Dawson of the Daily Star described it as a "dreamy mid-tempo with a hint of Ibiza chill-out rhythms". Fraser McAlpine of the BBC characterized the track as a "dancefloor tearjerker", similar to "Closer by Ne-Yo and "Teardrops" by Womack & Womack and wrote that the song "immediately feels like the girls have struck gold again"; James Cabooter of Daily Mail noted the incorporation of a "heavier US guitar sound" and referred to the song, in conjunction with "About You Now", as "damn near perfect pop". Nick Levine of Digital Spy suggested that "Never Gonna Dance Again", along with the album's singles "Denial" and "Change", demonstrates the group has "managed to grow up without losing their way with a melody". He elaborated that the song "seems to showcase a more reflective Sugababes". Tthe Guardian's Alex Petridis called it a "classy" example of the group's "trademark clever, referential pop", while The Independent's Andy Gill praised Xenomania's production of the song, saying that it "makes the most of its winningly logical melody".
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The song was originally written for the groups previous album Taller In More Ways but was cut from the final track listing due to the girls not being fond of the song. When the group were writing the fifth studio album they came back to the track and had come to like the song and was added to the group's fifth studio album, Change (2007). It was produced by Higgins and production team Xenomania, known for their work on other Sugababes singles including "Round Round", "Angels with Dirty Faces", "Hole in the Head", "In the Middle", and "Red Dress".
Written by Keisha Buchanan, Heidi Range, Miranda Cooper, Brian Higgins, Tim Powell, Lisa Cowling and Nick Coler.
Produced by Brian Higgins and Xenomania.
From Sugababes' fifth studio album Change (released in Oct. 2007).
This would have saved the entire Change album campaign if it were the second single! DAMN. About You Now, then this, then Denial would have brought them to a new career high after the immense success of About You Now.
This, Denial and Surprise were my trinity in that album. I miss them a lot.
This would have saved the entire Change album campaign if it were the second single! DAMN. About You Now, then this, then Denial would have brought them to a new career high after the immense success of About You Now.
This, Denial and Surprise were my trinity in that album. I miss them a lot.
Absolutely. I truly think they made some bad single choices during their career, which is a shame.
They had so many gems like this one, that people will never know about
With a demo previously recorded and written by Sugababes 2.0.
Mutya did not write anything on the song though. Only Heidi and Keisha. It was after the Taller In More Ways era where the girls stopped automatically crediting all three as songwriters when one did actually do actual writing. Hence more Keisha writing credits from Change onwards.