New Year (song)

The song was raved by critics. A journalist from the BBC wrote that the single as "lives up to the hype" and praised the inclusion of lyrics about Christmas as "without sounding remotely contrived".[11] The Sunday Herald's Samuel McGuire interpreted "New Year" as a "mellow [and] dewy-eyed" song that will "undoubtedly cement [the Sugababes'] 'new All Saints' tag early in 2001".[17] Eva Simpson of the Daily Mirror gave a positive review, writing: "Taken from outstanding debut album One Touch, this soulful track is head and shoulders above other festive releases. A must for Christmas stockings."[18] Yahoo Music's Andy Strickland stated that while "New Year" is not as "wired or skewed" as the group's debut single "Overload", it is a representation of the group members' vocal abilities.[19] Hot Press writer Stephen Robinson praised the song as "a shameless attempt at a January hit",[20] while Peter Robinson called it the group's best ballad.[21] In December 2012 Bernadette McNulty of The Daily Telegraph picked it out as one of the newspaper's favourite Christmas songs:

A relentless tearjerker from the pouty North London teenagers off their debut album. Sneakily giving the song a title that makes it last throughout the festive season, this updates old school girl-group harmonies from Christmas classics by the likes of the Ronettes with a clunky drum beat.[22]

Because of its release around Christmas time, media outlets considered "New Year" to be a contender for the 2000 Christmas number one.[23] In the issue dated 30 December 2000 the song debuted and peaked at number twelve on the UK Singles Chart, where it charted for nine weeks.[24] By early 2010, it had sold approximately 85,000 copies in the United Kingdom and was the group's eighteenth highest-selling single there.[25] "New Year" reached number twenty-five on the Irish Singles Chart, where it appeared for five weeks.[26]

To promote "New Year", a music video was directed by Alex Hamming and filmed in London, England.[27] It was included on the song's CD release.[28] The video is mainly black-and-white, but also features shades of pink and blue.[29] During the video, the group's members sing in front of a white background, while computer graphics such as snow, letters and butterflies appear throughout.[29] Other features in the video include a bird cage, stars and a calendar.[29] Donaghy, Buena and Buchanan are shown both individually and collectively in the video; in some clips they are seated on chairs and against walls.[29] The Daily Telegraph's Bernadette McNulty described their appearance in the clips, writing: "The original trio sulk their way through the video in boot-cut jeans and smudged eyeliner".[22]

The Sugababes performed "New Year" on 15 December 2000 broadcast of TFI Friday. In October 2011, news outlets began to report that the original members of the Sugababes would reform.[30] In July 2012, it was officially confirmed that they had reformed under the name Mutya Keisha Siobhan. The trio played their first gig together in over ten years on 31 December 2012 at a New Year's Eve party held in London.[31] "New Year" was the second song on the set list, which also included their songs "Overload" and "Freak like Me", and a cover version of Rihanna's single "Diamonds".[32]