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For the past five years, Melanie C
has been Sporty Spice. She was one of five girls
who, together, would go on to become some of the
most famous women on earth. During their reign,
Spice Girls have sold over 40 million records and
have had their lives microscopically detailed by the
tabloids in a fashion that suggests they must be
royal. Wherever they've travelled in the world,
they've been fanatically received: Nelson Mandela
still remembers the kiss, Prince Charles the pinch.
While other band members were perhaps louder and
more glamorous, Melanie C was the more mysterious.
She was the quietest of the quintet, then the
quietest of the quartet. Then, she capped one of her
teeth in gold, and had tattoos applied to her upper
arms, her lower back. She got very fit. General
consensus suggested that she was the best singer of
the bunch, and the most down to earth. She was
likeable, but never quite shone to her full
potential.
Until, that is, now. When the Spice Girls finally
booked themselves some time off recently, Melanie C
took advantage of the situation and immediately
decamped to Los Angeles to begin recording the solo
album that had lived in her mind and her dreams
these past five years.
"Spice Girls haven't hadmore than seven to ten
days off in the last three years," she
explains. "So we certainly earned the right to
lie back and relax. But to be honest, it was simply
too good an opportunity for me to go off and do my
own stuff. I'd been writing for myself for sometime,
so when the chance came along, I had to jump at
it."
So she booked herself into a downtown studio, and
surrounded herself with some very good company. In
three months, she worked with Beastie Boys and Red
Hot Chili Peppers producer Rick Rubin, Madonna
collaborators Marius De Vries and Rick Nowels (with
whom she co-wrote several songs) William Orbit
(Madonna, Blur) two members of Beck's band, Bryan
Adams and Rhett Lawrence (writer & producer of
hits for Mariah Carey and Monica, amongst others)
with whom she wrote co-wrote the gorgeous
"Never Be The Same Again", and which
features Lisa Left Eye (TLC). The calibre of talent
working with me was incredible," she beams.
"It's very odd being in the studio with these
kind of people. What was even stranger was that they
had such respect for me and for what I was trying to
do - they gave me enormous confidence in myself. It
was just the best time of my entire life."
The result is Northern Star, an album that doesn't
merely exceed Melanie's own expectations, but also
those of everyone else who hears it, Spice fanatic
or not. It is exceptionally good. For starters, it
sounds very little like one would expect from
someone with her background. The first single, Goin'
Down, crunches with spectacular malevolence and is
the aural equivalent of an armoured truck. Closer is
a sumptuously hypnotic ballad that is as deep and
lush and fresh as an aromatherapy bath. Suddenly
Monday is what an acoustic Noel Gallagher would
sound like were his trousers a little tighter, and
the title track is absolutely bewitching.
Her influences? "Well, I've always been into
indie and rock," she explains. "That?s
always the direction I wanted to go in." She's
a huge fan of Madonna, Hole and Garbage. She loves
The Cardigans' crystalline pop, and admires Oasis
and the Chili Peppers. While in Los Angeles, she
caught Blur in concert and came away in awe. No
Steps, then.
"This album is really going to surprise
people," she predicts. "When I look back
at the two previous albums I have been involved in,
then what I'm doing now is completely different. But
that's only natural. When Spice Girls started we
were still all really young. In five years you
change a hell of a lot, and that箂 what
Northern Star represents. It represents change. And
I'm not the only one. Look at the rest of us. One
has left, two are married and have babies. We箁e
turning into Spice Women now, branching out."
"I'm so thankful to the Spice Girls for
enabling me to be in this position because now I can
go off and do what I've always dreamed about. And
the best part of it is that I know I've got their
full support. The girls know that this is what I've
always wanted to do, and they're completely happy
for me. We always encourage one another in whatever
we want to do." As Melanie is now busy with a
flourishing solo career, let us therefore address
the obvious question: It箂 all over for the
Spice Girls, isn't it?
"People expect us to spilt up at least once a
day," she grins, "but as usual it's not
true. Why would we split up? We箁e having the
time of our lives."
And, indeed, the four Spice Girls reconvened in the
studio in early August to begin recording their
third album, and come winter, they will undertake
yet more live shows. Melanie, meanwhile, is planning
to go out on the road this autumn under the banner
of From Liverpool To Leicester Square, which will
actually take her far further afield than that,
including America, Australia, Japan and Europe,
Melanie juggling both projects as only a workaholic
Spice Girl can.
"It will be hectic, but I like hectic,"
she explains. "I still have huge fun being in
the Spice Girls, we have such a laugh. And they
really are my best friends. But I've also got
something else to prove, which is why I'm so
determined to see my solo stuff work."
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