Forget Sporty Spice, here’s electro Spice...
WHeN she was approached by former bandmates Geri, emma and Mel B about a moneyspinning Spice Girls reunion to mark the 20th anniversary of their first hit, Melanie Chisholm thought long and hard and then said: No.
this sixth solo album by the artist formerly known as Sporty Spice goes some way towards explaining why the 42-year-old singer joined victoria Beckham in turning down the project.
a thoughtful collection of mature electronic pop, version of Me is far from ground-breaking, its textured, atmospheric rhythms recalling everyone from Massive attack to australian singer Sia Furler.
But all in all, it’s a significant departure for an artist still prepared to experiment.
Mel has dabbled in synthetic stylings before, but this album, much of it produced by dance duo Sons of Sonix, is her first full electronic offering. revealing its power gradually, it also examines her hopes and fears with surprising candour.
Chisholm has admitted that some of the material deals with her split, four years ago, from former boyfriend tom Starr, father of her seven-year-old daughter, Scarlet.
However, she tackles other difficult topics, too, singing about depression and bullying without lapsing into self-pity.
‘I wanted an album I’d listen to,’ she says. ‘I’m a grown woman and mother, and a lot has happened in the five years since my last album. It’s all in there, and none of it is too cryptic. I’ll never be a left-field artist, because I write pop songs, but I wanted to be more creative.’
the confessional tone is apparent from opening track Dear Life. Backed by shimmering piano and crashing cymbals, Melanie sings about fighting her feelings of helplessness: ‘Should I lay back and let the tide wash over me...or fight?’ the Spice Girls’ Wannabe it isn’t.
Domestic upheaval and romantic turmoil are addressed on desolate numbers such as Unravelling and the bittersweet Something For the Fire (co-written with London duo turin Brakes), but not all of the heartbreak songs are down-tempo: recent single anymore is stridently funky.
CHISHoLM’S voice, too, has acquired greater resonance. always the most technically gifted vocalist in the Spice Girls, her singing has progressed since she starred in the West end production of Willy russell’s Blood Brothers, and she displays a calm authority here.
Certain tracks, including the closing ballad Blame, suffer from cluttered arrangements that detract from the album’s honesty, but version of Me is largely distinguished by an appealing lightness of touch, with Numb a quirky pop number and escalator an airy, electronic piece. Saddled with a drab, track-suited image after she signed up to the Girl Power revolution at 19, Melanie C has come of age with her dignity fully intact.
In the Spice Girls, she helped to give pop its voice again. She now seems to have found her own.
JACK SAVORETTI endured a decade of struggle before securing his first top-ten album with last year’s Written In Scars, a record that framed his bitterness at past rejections. this sequel, completed in admirable haste, is more optimistic.
Sleep No More shuns old acoustic leanings for a more rugged approach, echoing Bruce Springsteen’s e Street Band on When We Were Lovers and arcade Fire on Helpless.
Described as a love letter to his wife, its busy, trad-rock bustle sometimes overshadows the tender moments, although he sings with persuasive warmth and power throughout.
With family ties to england, Italy and Switzerland, Savoretti also brings a european flavour to his best songs, with the cinematic title track and the folky Lullaby Loving lending a distinctive spark.