Katie Melua is set to make a return to the airwaves and the charts next month with her fifth studio album Secret Symphony.
I caught up with her to talk about the new album, the first single off that album and what she has coming up for the rest of the year.
- You are about to release your fifth studio album Secret Symphony so what can we expect from the record this time around?
Well this is an album where I just wanted to sing my heart out. I have recorded all of my albums with orchestras before but this is the first time where I wanted to focus on the orchestra and make it an orchestral based album - and so the song Secret Symphony was born out of that idea.
It was written by Mike Batt and as soon as I heard it I was completely awestruck and I couldn’t wait to record it. I didn’t set out to write anything for Secret Symphony but, as often is with writing, if you are not trying too hard it just happens.
- So how does it differ to the records that you have released before?
Well the orchestra element is the focal point of the album and this is the first time where I tried not to write and just be a singer.
I think singing is such an important and incredible art form and it is quite undervalued at times. So I wanted to make a real singers album as before I was always trying to write.
- Like I said this is your fifth album so how have you seen yourself grow, develop and change as an artist since your debut record back in 2005?
The funny thing is I have noticed that my voice has changed I think that it’s got deeper and, if I do say so myself, it’s gotten a bit richer I think.
As a person you change all the time - I am different this week that I was last week. So based on that you tastes change completely too; the music that I use to listen to eight years ago is completely different to the music that I listen to now.
You gather all the past, that is all still there, but the surface is always changing so every album is totally different.
- Better Than A Dream is going to be the first single to be released off the album so why did you decide to release this song first to introduce us to the rest of the record?
I have always been rubbish at picking singles so I always let the people around me help me to decide what the best first song is.
It’s just a case of playing it to people and seeing what they react to and what strikes their fancy and this was the song that people reacted to really well.
- Mike Batt serves as producer as well as writer on the album so how did you find working with him in these two different areas of making this record?
I have always worked with him in this way so it really was just going back to basics and it was the way that we have always worked.
How do I find working with him? I love it. Once he gets something in his head he goes after it like no one else that I know. He is such an inspiration to be around it really is fascinating.
- The likes of Francoise Hardy and Fran Healy have also penned songs so how did this come around?
These were songs that they had already written and they had in their catalogue. For the album we went trawling through the internet, through songbooks, through everyone’s song libraries and CD collections.
A couple of the songs were recommended by Mike’s son Luke, a couple of songs were written by my mates, and a couple of songs were from my library and Mike’s library. So literally we just went looking for songs and it was a real trial and error thing.
- Forgetting All My Trouble is one of the songs that you penned on the album and I was reading that you said this song ‘represents who and where you are today’ so how exactly would you describe where you are as an artist?
I don’t know how I describe myself as an artist but I can define myself as a person and that it what this song is; it really is a mirror of the person that I think I am today.
And that is someone who is really happy but still acknowledges to the difficulties of life and pays respect to the challenges of life.
But essential I am someone who is a bit hypnotised by love at the moment because I am in love. So that song really helps me sum all that up.
- You kicked off you career back in 2005 so how have you seen the industry change in that time?
Oh my God it has changed so much! First of all there were physical singles still on sale but that stopped after the first two albums - so that’s one change. Then obviously downloads have hugely increased.
Then there were places like Woolworths who use to sell a lot of CD’s and they have now gone. And there are other companies that have come and gone but people have adapted and moved to different companies.
- You are going to performing at Ronnie Scott’s at the beginning of February so what have you got coming up in those shows?
Basically I am going to be my own support act and start with an acoustic set. Then I am going to bring out the band and a little orchestra, it’s going to be a tiny Secret Symphony orchestra, and we are going to play a big show in a tiny place.
- Ronnie Scott’s is quite an intimate setting compared to some of the venues that you have played over the years how much are you looking forward to that aspect of the shows? How much is being up close and personal with your fans something that you enjoy?
I love it! I love the diversity of one night playing and Ronnie Scott’s and the next playing at the O2 or at the Hammersmith Apollo - it’s just nice to be able to have that variety.
Being up close to the fans is just great because it makes you feel like you are in a different era and a different time. I have never played at Ronnie Scott’s before so I am just delighted.
- When you look the British music scene being a solo female artist appears to be a very exiting place to be with so many women enjoying massive success. So how much is that the case and how much are you enjoying being a part of it?
I am loving being part of it. But it’s not like we have got a club so there isn’t that sense of ‘oh we are a big team’. But on the other hand theoretically we are all females, young and doing really well which is just fantastic.
- And you are one of the most successful solo British artists of the last decade so is there anything else that you would like to achieve?
Oh yeah there is still so much music that I want to make and so many different styles. I also want to pay tribute to my Georgian culture and maybe make a Georgian album on day. So yes there is still so much I want to achieve.
- What bands and artists are you enjoying at the moment?
Oh I love The National, I think they are fantastic. Shelby Lynne, she is an American folk singer, she is fantastic. I also think Lana Del Rey is very exciting.
- You have a huge fan base so do you have a message for any of those fans reading this interview?
Just a big thank you for being there with me through the years and supporting me and here’s too many more albums.
- Finally what’s next for you?
Next will be the album coming out and then the first single coming out but I also have a tour in the autumn time, I am really looking forward to that.
The albums Secret Symphony is released 5th March
Single Better Than A Dream is out 12th March
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw
Tagged in Katie Melua