Sophie Ellis-Bextor on heading for the Top 10 with new album HANA: "It feels a lot sweeter now"
07.06.2023 - 14:57
/ officialcharts.com
Sophie Ellis-Bextor isn't just UK pop royalty. After she raised our flagging spirits during lockdown with her Kitchen Disco livestreams – an endearingly chaotic mix of her own hits and classic cover versions – she has pretty much attained national treasure status.
This week, she releases her seventh studio album HANA, an infectiously-optimistic yet slightly off-kilter pop album inspired by a trip to Japan. It's on course to debut inside the Official Albums Chart Top 10, possibly becoming her highest-charting album since Wanderlust peaked at Number 4 in 2014.
Of course, Sophie is no stranger to Official Charts success. Back in August 2000, she won one of the most notorious chart battles of all time when Groovejet (If This Ain't Love), her Ibiza-flavoured collab with DJ Spiller, pipped Out of Your Mind by True Steppers, Dane Bowers and Victoria Beckham to Number 1.
As she prepares for a busy summer including a set on Glastonbury's iconic Pyramid Stage, we called Sophie for a catch-up.
My expectations are always very, very low in terms of charting, because it's very busy and there are lots of new releases. That being said, when things do better than you'd expected, it's actually a lot sweeter now because you're more appreciative of the relationship between making music and the person at the other end. The person who's actually receiving it and giving you feedback.
I think when you're a younger artist, you're sort of encouraged not to think too much about individuals [listening to your music]. But now, I feel like it's much more of an individual exchange.
I've kind of got two because one is much more quirky, and then one is much more personal.
There's one called Until the Wheels Fall Off, which is inspired by a letter that