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09 Jun 2006: Sophie catch-up: part 4
In the latest installment of our interview with Sophie, she chats about motherhood.
How are you going to balance being a mum and doing all the promotion for your new album?
I’m just going to take it as it comes really. I’m going to make sure I’ve spent enough time with Sonny, but I also don’t want to haul him along to stuff just for the sake of it if it’s not in his best interests. But so far it’s been lovely, I’ve been really lucky. Because I’m a solo artist I’ve been pretty much able to dictate my own schedule and can juggle things around, making sure I’ve got enough time with him.
Do you think being a mum has changed you?
Definitely, it does change you, but it’s kind of a subtle change. It’s significant, but it doesn’t happen overnight, it’s a realisation that you come to over the course of about the first year. It’s funny, in one way it makes you more vulnerable and seems to strip a layer off you because of the way you feel about your baby, and kind of breaks down any cynicism, but on the other hand, because you’re a mum you’ve got this strength that makes you put on a bit of armour because you have to protect them,
so it’s this simultaneous thing of breaking something down but also empowering you.
01 Jun 2006: Sophie catch-up: part 3
In the next instalment of our interview with Sophie, she chats about live shows and her son, Sonny.
Have you got any live shows planned?
When we’ve got the album finished, that's when we’ll slot everything in, but hopefully I'll be touring around autumn to support the release of the album. But before then I imagine it'll be a lot of TV appearances, performing at G-A-Y, radio shows, magazines, that sort of thing.
And are you looking forward to getting back into the pop star lifestyle?
I can’t wait! I’m going stir crazy! I mean, I love the writing and the recording and it’s rewarding, but it’s not very glamorous and you get a bit bored. I want to do my pop star stuff again! [laughs]
And how's Sonny?
He’s brilliant, two's a really, really sweet age. He's on quite an even keel; he's a calm little chap, so I've been lucky, he's very, very happy.
23 May 2005: Sophie catch-up: part 2
In Part 2 of our interview, Sophie reveals who she’s been working with on the new album.
Have you got a favourite track on the new album yet?
To be honest it’s difficult to tell because I haven’t got a finished album in my hands, so I haven’t had the opportunity to listen to it as a finished piece. At the moment, because they’re new they all feel like favourites, but I’m sure once I’ve lived with it for a couple of months and stopped working on it I’ll be able to just be a listener rather than a participant and then I’ll be able to go,
‘Ooh, this one’s one of my favourites!’
Who have you been working with?
I’ve been very lucky, I’ve been working with some really brilliant different UK writers and artists. I did a song with Liam from the Sneaker Pimps and some stuff with a French guy called Dimitri, who’s a bit more alternative. Cathy Dennis has written one and Brian Higgins, who’s part of Xenomania, and that was lots of fun, he’s a very talented pop writer. There’s a brilliant
girl called Hannah Robinson who I ended up doing a lot of stuff with, we got on really well. I’ve also done some songwriting with Dan from The Feeling. I’ve just been enjoying the fact that there wasn’t any time pressure so I could write with lots of different people, and sometimes we got lots of brilliant stuff and other times we tried things out and they didn’t really work, but it’s just nice not to have to keep looking at the clock and going, ‘OK, we’ve got to come up with a hit by the end of the day!’
20 May 2006: Sophie catch-up: part 1
With some brand new material on the way (never mind a two-year-old son!) Sophie's been a very busy lady recently, but she took time out to fill us in on what she’s been up to, her next album and her plans for the summer.
Check out what she had to say in the first part of our interview below - we'll be bringing you the next part soon...
So what’s been going on with you for the last few months?
I’ve been finishing work on this album. It’s funny, I know that it seems like I’m inactive because I haven’t been doing anything public, but I haven’t really stopped working! The last year and a half has been spent writing and recording and we’ve finally got to the mixing stage, which is great because it means I’ve done all the hard work really and now it’s over to other people to make it sound all finished. The first single will be coming out in the summer.
And is there a theme to the album?
Well it’s always difficult for me to be too objective about it, but hopefully it just sounds like it’s me. I think it’s probably closer to the first album in terms of feel and there are lots of uptempo tracks. It’s just a pop album really, there’s no theme, I just write songs depending on my mood
13 May 2006: Tripping the light fantastic
Source: Popjustice.com
Tripping The Light Fantastic is the tentative title for the next album from Miss Ellis-Bextor.
Completely moving away from the 'indie' sound of the last album, Tripping The Light Fantastic reverts back to the sound of 'Groovejet' along with elements of dance and electro pop.
Mooted first single is a Cathy Dennis and Greg Kurstin song, who were last seen together on P!nk's 'Centrefold'. Called Catch You the song is an electro-pop stomper with SEB purring 'Run to where you want... I am going to find you...'
.Other tracks include co-writes with Richard 'Biff' Stannard, Matt Prime amongst others. One particular track is looped round a Kraftwerk sample, and another is an ibiza house stomper. Definitely an album to keep an eye out for...
10 May 2006: If football teams were women...
From Daily Record
WHAT if football teams were women? That's a subject close to the heart of Whitburn correspondent, Bert Mancini.
Aberdeen would be Dido - bland and boring and still trading off the one big hit they had years ago.
Caley Thistle would be Jodie Marsh - impressive front two but embarrassing at the back.
Celtic would be Charlotte Church - proof
that money can't buy you class. But could look more attractive if the Welsh bloke was given the elbow.
Dundee would be Dannii Minogue - the poor relation to the more glamorous sibling.
Dundee United would be Sophie Ellis-Bextor
- all the components look great but stick them together and it just doesn't work.
Falkirk would be Girls Aloud - only one class act in the line-up. You shouldn't like them but you've had an admiring glance.
Rangers would be Jordan - marginally more likeable when they weren't packed with expensive foreign implants.
Kilmarnock would be Pamela Anderson - can look good on their day, but who hasn't watched them getting a right seeing to?
Hibs would be Keira Knightley - easy on the eye and proof that two little ones up front needn't be a drawback.
Livingston would be Davina McCall - promoted beyond their ability.
22 Feb 2006: Sophie bex for more!
EXPECT to hear the suave sound of Sophie Ellis-Bextor back in the charts very soon...
The 26-year-old mum-of-one looked in great shape at the Elle Style awards and told us: "I'm just finishing my third album. I've been away for two years and I've a little boy to show for it but I want to get back to my music."
10 Feb 2006: Time is approaching...
"Good evening ladies and boys,
nice to see you are all still keeping well. Thank you again for your ongoing support. I am a lucky girl.
Just thought I'd drop you a line as it's been
a while. Everyone in the Ellis-Bextor-Jones house is doing well. My album is now in the mixing stage and my first single is coming out this summer. I have been ever so keen to get on with the show but I really wanted to take my time,
too, as this album is so important - especially as I've been away for a while. Anyhoo, it's been worth the extra mile and I am really happy with it.
I hope you like it too. It continues on where the last one left off in that
it's a pop record with a few sides but in spirit it's probably closer to Read My Lips in that it's predominantly positive and upbeat. I am a happy woman, after all.
You'll be hearing more soon. Seriously, I am ever so grateful to
have fans like you.
Lovely.
Sx
ps. three cheers for The Feeling. Isn't it nice to have them around?"
06 Feb 2006: Sophie & Kraftwerke
FIRST COLDPLAY go and sample KRAFTWERK - now SOPHIE ELLIS BEXTOR is jumping on the electro bandwagon. The Murder On The Dancefloor singer has recorded a poppy new version of
Kraftwerk's The Model for her new album.
Source: The Sun
15 Nov 2005: Back in England
Sophie is now back in the UK after a fantastic few months in America. She had an amazing time, though it was also fairly exhausting as she was looking after Sonny as well as busily working on new material. However, she's now feeling fully refreshed and is very excited about the new tracks and looking forward to releasing them next year. She's now into the production stage of the third album and can't wait for everyone to hear it!
Since they've been back, Sophie and Sonny have been touring the country with Sophie's husband Richard's band The Feeling, so that the three of them can spend as much family time together as possible.
25 Oct 2005: From popdirt.com
Sophie Ellis-Bextor spoke with Neil Sean of Sky News about her plans to come back to the pop scene early next year. "I did guest vocals on a Busface
track this year but this will be a return to full-on dance floor diva mode," she said. "The world of pop has been rather dull without me, I feel."
* well said, Sophie ;D
17 Oct 2005: Keeping us up-to-date
Finally Sophie has posted on the forum to let us up to date on the album, check it out:
Howdy folks,
I wanted to write to let you know where I'm up to with album three. we're not far off now! I am glad to report I have completed writing the album. the track listing posted on the site by a fan unfortunately isn't accurate -
to be honest I haven't settled on my final list and I haven't chosen the album title just yet either. That being said, there are around 10 tracks that are certain and I have now got to select the final couple to join them. This is easier said then done as I have written over 70 since I started writing this album 12 months ago! Some titles are Me and My Imagination, The Distance Between Us and What Have We Started.
By the end of october I'll decide what the first single is as there are three contenders and I keep changing my mind about which is my favourite. I am expecting to release early next year.
I can't wait. It's been a long journey to get to this point but the hard work has paid off and I'm super happy with the way the whole album is shaping up.
Thank you so much for being so loyal. I am a lucky girl.
Sx
14 Oct 2005: News about third album
Source: AnotherDay, forum member
Just a few weeks and Sophie will be back. She's still in America and will be back in November with the last songs for her new album.
Its first single will be released in Mid-January, probably
'If I Can't Dance' and her album will be released in February. AnotherDay also said some details on track Only One: it's about a girl who doesn't know how to treat a man who is getting married, secretly she loves him. This song is a ballad and it's the first song she recorded.
Songs that may be on the album: Only One, If I Can't Dance, View In The Mirror, Self Acceptance, Going Under, Far Away, Humam Being, My Flight, All I
Need, Music Took My Man, It Wasn't (It Isn't) e Catch The Best.
24 Sep 2005: Ellis-Bextor sparks fur confusion
British pop star SOPHIE ELLIS-BEXTOR sparked confusion over her stance on the fur trade this week (begs19SEP05) when she attended the opening party for a new Versace boutique in London, which stocks fashion garments incorporating fur.
But she sees no hypocrisy in showing her support for Versace - even though the fashion house is a regular target for PETA protests.
The 26-year-old says, "I did that campaign to raise awareness, so people think about what they're buying before they do. I don't have a complicated view about it.
I don't wear fur, but I don't mind other people wearing it, or standing here in a shop that sells it at all."
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