Sophie Ellis-Bextor on her upcoming Aussie tour and return to sparkly disco-pop

Soon to tour Australia with Take That, Sophie Ellis-Bextor has news many fans have longed to hear: A return to her disco-pop roots.

Sophie Ellis-Bextor started the year with a surprise success most artists dream of: Thanks to its inclusion in the film Saltburn, her signature song Murder on the Dancefloor raced back up the charts, 23 years after it was first a hit.

A lot’s changed for Ellis-Bextor in those years. There have been six more studio albums, five children, countless tours and diversions into podcasting, writing and acting.

Along the way, she’d steadily drifted from the sound that made her famous with Murder and other early hits like Groovejet and Get Over You: Her last three albums have been collaborations with indie singer-songwriter Ed Harcourt, an“introverted” musical era that’s spanned a decade.

Later this month, she’ll be back in Australia for the second time this year, supporting fellow British pop legends Take That on a national arena tour. And she’s got news that’s sure to excite sections of her fanbase who love Ellis-Bextor in Murder mode: She’s prepping a brand new disco-pop album, with a very catchy first single just weeks away from release.

“Hello, Sophie? This is disco calling, we need you back.” Picture by Laura Lewis.

You’ll be back in Australia soon as support act for the Take That tour. Is it a different kind of challenge, opening for another act?

It’s really different, but I’ve always credited support tours as being part of what’s helped me become a better live performer, because there’s nothing that sharpens the senses like walking out in front of a crowd that are waiting for someone else.

And I take my job as support quite seriously, because your job is to warm up the crowd; you’re trying to get them in the mood. In 2007, I did 34 dates with Take That, an arena tour up and down the UK. Trust me, walking out in front of 14,000, mainly women, screaming for Take That? You’ve really got to earn your right for them to give you some time. But it was brilliant. I absolutely loved it.

And actually it’s also really fun because you do a short set and then you’re done in time for supper!

We can’t not talk about the massive success of Murder on the Dancefloor over the past year. One thing I wondered as the song was taking off again, 22 years later: How many people out there think this is a brand new single by rising artist Sophie Ellis-Bextor?

I think the only place where I knew I was experiencing something genuinely brand new was in America. Murder on the Dancefloor had never done anything back in the day, and I’d never done any promo there, nothing.

So I did my first ever American telly in February this year; my first radio interview in January. I’ve just now done a couple of tours there. That’s bonkers. But then when I got there, I found waiting for me, quite a lot of fans who’ve obviously been supporting me for a while, regardless. Saltburn just brought us together – how lovely is that?

Murder on the Dancefloor was released in December 2001, and became a hit all over again this year.

And I’ve just been taking it all in, really. I know you said ‘a year ago’, but actually it’s not even been a year. It literally only started in January, so it’s been quite a whirlwind. I’ve really done my best to enjoy all of it, because it’s one of those magical things that might never happen to me ever again. You’ve just got to drink it up.

How much does the surprise success of a song like that inform what you do next? Do you feel pressure to make some ‘Murder’ soundalikes?

No, I’ve never been that kind of person. I can’t really do things to order. But the serendipity is that I actually already was making a disco pop album, so that just made me feel like the wind was in the right direction. My last album Hana was quite introverted, so I was already feeling like, right, let’s go back to that [disco] sound. So I’ve taken it and run with it to make the best album I could.

One little taste of very poppy-sounding new music came in the past few weeks, with a snippet of a new song in an ad campaign you’re appearing in.

That’s the single! So, it’s called Freedom of the Night. That song’s very, very me: Celebratory disco pop. With this album, it’s been so joyful to open up the box of disco pop again. I haven’t written an album like that for over 10 years. And with all of it, I was like: If I’m not dancing around the studio by the end of the day, then it’s not working. It’s got to be that emotional, you know? You can’t do it cerebrally. It’s got to give me that feeling, that lift.

As your career grew, so did your family. How does ‘pop star’ rate as a job for a working mum of five?

It’s definitely easier than a lot of other jobs. For example, when I came to sing at Mardi Gras in Sydney back in February, my eight-year-old son was there as well. We had this four-day trip that I swear he’ll talk about that when he’s older. He really loved it; we had such a special time together. How many working mums can say, ‘You know what, I’m going to bring my kid on that work trip and we’ll turn it into a holiday?’ I’ve given my children some experiences, and I can, I suppose, call the shots a little bit.

But the flip side of it is, you have to navigate it yourself. I can feel terrible if I turn down work; I’m quite hardwired to take things on. So it’s about trying to get that balance so that I’m here when they need me, always at the end of the phone.

But those are things that any working mum would identify with, I think … I have it easier than most.

Ellis-Bextor circa 2002: “I’m not snobby about pop at all.”

Back in your early days as a solo artist, you were in charts and on Top of the Pops with manufactured pop acts like Steps, S Club 7, Liberty X. You’d come from an indie band – did you feel like a bit of an outsider as a pop star?

Definitely. I mean, I’ve got a ridiculous name for a pop star, for starters. But I think I thrive better when there’s a little something to kick against. It feels quite nice. And also, I’m not snobby about pop at all. Some of the people you listed have made some brilliant pop records.

And I think now, a long career has allowed me the process of figuring out that this is just me, and all those ideas you have in your head of what you should and shouldn’t be … they’re just in your head really, aren’t they? It’s not real.

It sounds like that’s part of getting older as well? There’s a bit more self-acceptance. 

Yeah, and I love it. I love it very much. I didn’t know I’d enjoy it as much as I do. And I think a lot of what’s happened in music has shown that the idea that pop music is for the young was all bollocks as well. That was really drilled into me when I was in my 20s, but I just don’t think anyone cares about it in the same way we thought they did. Look at Kylie [Minogue] with Padam! It’s just not real. People just want the music, thank you very much.

Kylie Minogue “helped shift the dial.”

“People just want the music, thank you very much.” Picture: Laura Lewis

I was just competing against half of Australia today to secure a ticket for Kylie’s tour, so I can confirm: No one cares.

Exactly! And how glorious is that? Artists like her have helped shift the dial. It just shows you that it’s much better now there’s more of a democratic approach to what music people want to listen to, than the days where it was a boardroom full of old blokes telling us what young kids wanted to listen to. They never knew what they were talking about anyway.

Sophie Ellis-Bextor supports Take That on their forthcoming Australian tour:

WEDNESDAY 30 OCTOBER - RAC Arena | Perth WA  

SATURDAY 2 NOVEMBER – Peter Lehmann Wines | Barossa Valley SA – a day on the green

WEDNESDAY 6 NOVEMBER – Rod Laver Arena | Melbourne VIC  

THURSDAY 7 NOVEMBER - Qudos Bank Arena | Sydney NSW

SATURDAY 9 NOVEMBER - Bimbadgen | Hunter Valley NSW – a day on the green

SUNDAY 10 NOVEMBER – Sirromet Wines | Mount Cotton QLD – a day on the green

Originally published as Sophie Ellis-Bextor on her upcoming Aussie tour and return to sparkly disco-pop