2026 saw Melanie C release her landmark 9th album. In true actual pop diva fashion, 4 singles were released before the album was. There's still some elements that even a gayborhood legend like Melanie C was subject to, like dance-pop being under 3:00 to optimize streams for 18-26 year brats (not that damn XBOX lady kind) on their phones...of course to understand more, let's look at her overall.
Slight primer: Melanie C is a UK pop act who for three albums was a member of the Spice Girls as "Sporty Spice". Since 1999, she's been a soloist and from 1999-2007 had charting singles in the UK. Her debut album Northern Star and follow-up Reason were on Virgin Records (1999, 2003) and albums 3 though 9 have been on her independent label Red Girl. Unlike most pop acts, Melanie C takes her sweet, sweet time between releases and for the last two, it's paid off brilliantly.
2020 saw the release of her self titled effort, Melanie C. Singles wise, it didn't do shit on the UK Singles Chart (which is a travesty, given some of the bullshit before and after that album that has gone #1. I'm glaring at a shit-stain called "Sprinter" specifically.) However, that album marked a return to outright club flavored dance music. Not that she shied away from it, but for the first part of her independent career (Beautiful Intentions and This Time), she was reluctant to return to a pop sphere. Then came The Sea and the flopulous banger "Think About It", meaning Melanie had begun to embrace pop again.
It did take "High Heels" in 2019 for her dance phase to fully kick in again, but by Melanie C releasing and now Sweat, it's abundantly clear she loves the dancefloor again. The fact that Melanie C went #8 on the UK Albums Chart and marked her first Top 10 release since her days on Virgin certainly helped continue the turn to dance music.
Cut to October of 2025 and the release of the lead single and title track, "Sweat".
"Sweat" reinforces Melanie C's strengths in dance music with a catchy chorus, simple, ruthlessly efficient lyricism and enough to show off her disciplined vocal ability. Sure, nothing about "Sweat" the single or the album challenges her, but Melanie C is essentially Kylie Minogue for the muscle queen/gym bunny level gays. That much helps the somewhat basic but still fantastically made high notes of her dance career come off better.
Now, despite four singles releasing before the album, a second video in "Drum Machine" wouldn't be released until the release day of the album. "Drum Machine" is fine for what it is, but won't be a track I could recommend as of yet. As for the album overall, let's address the main criticism now:
SONGS ON A DANCE-POP ALBUM THAT ARE UNDER 3 MINUTES, WITH TWO OF THEM BARELY BEING 2:30 IN LENGTH.
That is complete bullshit and a slap in the face of music listeners and not bratty, fickle children that every facet of entertainment stupidly goes after in the age of the internet. You can basically chalk me up in favor of a ban of TikTok AKA the worst thing to happen to music in the modern era. Pop songs that barely register 2 minutes piss me off already, but the fact that there's a consistent wave of "umm ur old, that's just how things work old" makes things worse. I won't commiserate about this, but just know "le wrong generation" level music consumers can thwart that argument in a picosecond.
Back to the matter at hand, out of 13 tracks on Sweat, 4 of them are under 3:00. "Cashmere" and "One Track Mind" are just short of 3, with 2:50 and 2:56 runtimes respectively. 2 of the songs, "Till It Breaks" has a runtime of 2:34 and "Free to Love" has a runtime of 2:25. GET BACK IN THAT STUDIO AND ADD TO THOSE SONGS RIGHT NOW. Even if I'm not recommending them for separate reasons, short runtimes like that just sour an album experience.
No T, No Shade but Melanie C listeners or any diva of merit is not catering to, nor claim any relation the TikTok crowd (and quite fucking frankly never should.) That aside, only one song does come across as a complete misfire, which out of 13 is amazing.
The song in question was the second single "What Could Possibly Go Wrong?" and apparently everything went wrong with that abysmal horror of a song. It's not like the bouncy production or the delivery in the first 57 seconds (verse and pre-chorus or the buildup) was the problem, but then the chorus came in and fucked everything up. The chorus became flat and Melanie C cannot afford any unintentional flatness or her uniquely disciplined vocals can come across poorly.
As for the two songs not even barely 2:30 or so? "Till It Breaks" doesn't build up to much but then again a 2:34 runtime doesn't allow it to, while "Free to Love" is lukewarm at best. Neither of those are horrible but the runtime hurts either one from being redeemed by say a bridge or a rich production.
For the two next shortest songs, "Cashmere" has a muddled identity between being a midtempo or a slow jam. Not that a slow song is bad, because if you imagine the downtime or the rest period anyone athletically inclined takes in workouts, songs like "Cashmere" could work but they needed to be made into either a midtempo or a slow number. "One Track Mind" could work as it being the lynchpin slow number on a pop album. I need a bit more time with it as I know what it's going for (if you know of "Never Be the Same Again" from Northern Star, it's somewhat like that), but can't determine if I'm whelmed by it or bored but not offended by it.
Now onto the highlights and in turn the strengths of Sweat. Aside from the title track and lead single, the two other singles "Undefeated Champion" and "Attitude". These songs add to the lovingly made 80s inspired charm and workout playlist level pop that does have a dedicated audience. Again, if one can imagine Melanie C as the Kylie Minogue for muscle queens or any workout induced gay, the material comes off better. For pop listeners like us, we know what she's going for and when it's right, it's right. Add in the other highlights of "Pressure", "Emotional Memory", "Good For Nothing" and "Flick of the Wrist".
"Pressure" is basically the exercise machine company Peloton and the gym franchise Planet Fitness in the form of a song, but considering this is Melanie C, that's brand commitment right there. It may be the most on the nose version of her "glamthletic"/"athleisure" chic, but again, when it's right, it's right. "Emotional Memory" is synthpop lite and is all the more wonderful for it, even if adding at least 15 seconds would make it more unctuous than it already is.
"Good for Nothing" is the video game but make it pop level music I fuck with the hardest. "Flick of the Wrist" works so well as the closer to the album and is the more subtle cut to the Sweat experience that I wholeheartedly recommend.
Overall, there's more to like about Sweat than not. If you want energy and punchy vocals from a pop act now 9 albums deep in the game, Sweat is exactly what you want. Forgive some of the concessions to the modern music landscape and pH 14 level basic moments, and you will be greatly rewarded with lovingly made and earnest pop music.
Highlights:
- "Attitude" 🏆🥇
- "Sweat"
- "Undefeated Champion"
- "Emotional Memory"
- "Pressure"
- "Good For Nothing"
- "Flick of the Wrist"
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