Sexier than the Spice Girls, smarter than the Spice Girls,
       sassier than the Spice Girls - that's the schtick on London
       Records' hotly-tipped new pop act All Saints, who release
       their debut single I Know Where It's At on August 18. But
       whatever you do, don't mention the Spice Girls. London
       Records' chairman Tracy Bennett says, "All Saints are going
       to be one of the biggest bands in the world." With those
       words, the potential war with the Spice Girls is elevated
       into a global, unit-shifting showdown. "My only worry is the
       'new Spice Girls' tag," Bennett adds. "We know comparisons
       will be drawn, it's inevitable, but this is a very different
       band. They are real music fans, obsessives. I promise you
       they can give you the barcodes on their record collection."
       The group's hip credentials have been polished up by the
       involvement of Neneh Cherry and Massive Attack producer
       Cameron McVey in their debut album, due in November. "He was
       suggested to us by the record label," says 21-year-old singer
       Melanie Blatt. "We like Neneh Cherry, but she's not a
       particularly big influence on us." 

       The album also features two other producer credits, K Gee of
       the Steve Jervier stable, and Johnny Douglas, who has
       previously worked with George Michael. Apart from one short
       session in Washington, the album was recorded in two London
       studios, Matrix and Metropolis. For the moment, Blatt isn't
       giving too much away. "All I can say is, expect something
       fairly slow and groove-based," she says. "None of it is very
       fast, it's all very mid-tempo stuff." 

       All Saints started life as a duo four years ago when Blatt
       and Shaznay T Lewis, both 21, hooked up together and started
       recording in a studio in All Saints Road, Ladbroke Grove,
       London. They were briefly signed to ZTT Records, releasing a
       single, If You Wanna Party. However, Blatt says, "We didn't
       know what direction we wanted to go in and ZTT didn't really
       know what to do with us, so it was a pretty short lived
       thing. Our one release was deleted very quickly." In 1995,
       the pair, who are still the group's co-songwriters, invited
       Canadian sisters Nicky, 22, and Natalie Appleton, 24, to join
       them as singers. 

       Now, their four-piece harmonies hit the mark, marking them
       out as an act who could offer a fresh twist on both En Vogue
       and the Spice Girls. Bennett has previously signed Fine Young
       Cannibals and East 17 in his 20-year tenure at London, which
       includes the company's successes with all-girl group
       Bananarama. He instantly saw All Saints' potential, signing
       them to London last November. "A friend of mine, John Benson,
       who manages All Saints, has been a guy about town for years.
       He's always bringing me things and they've all been useless,
       Morris Dancers and things like that. You know how it is when
       a friend says, 'I've got something you might be interested
       in', so when John turned up again with this tape of the All
       Saints I was a bit reluctant to hear it. But when I did put
       it on, I realised he had brought me the best demo tape in the
       whole world. There were six songs on there and they were all
       hits. I hadn't gone out looking for the band, I'd sat back in
       my office and it had landed in my lap. By the time the tape
       had reached the first chorus in the song Never Forever, which
       is going to be a massive second single, I was getting
       everyone into my office to give it a listen. I couldn't
       believe my luck. I've dealt with a lot of bands but Shaznay
       is the best songwriter I've worked with." 

       The single was actually written four years ago by the
       original two-piece and features a short rap by Shaznay. "We
       bring a lot of influences into our music - rap, R&B, pop,
       soul," says Blatt. "We are real music fans. The Spice Girls
       are cool and it's amazing how they've burst out into this
       massive phenomena, but the day they call themselves artists,
       I'll kill myself. We're much better looking and we've got
       more upstairs." 

       "You wouldn't believe the IQs of these girls," says Bennett,
       keen to make a point. "They are sexy and attractive, but
       there's something freaky about them, such as Shaznay in her
       big brace." He also insists All Saints are being treated as
       an act with a long shelf-life. "This is a marriage, it's
       going to last, not just something to sleep or flirt with,"
       says the hype-friendly Bennett. "They are not the new Spice
       Girls or the new Bananarama, they will be around for a long
       time." 

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