Melanie C reconnects with the rave nights of her London youth on Sweatshirthis ninth studio album released in May. Returning from a North American tour where the public sang her new songs in chorus, the singer tells how she ended up making peace with her alter ego from the Spice Girls, and what song she would choose for a hypothetical reformation of the group.
Before starting her North American tour this year, Melanie C tried not to expect too much. She was going to sing in cities where she had not performed solo for over twenty years. In some, she had not set foot since the Spice Girls reformation tour, in 2007. The tickets had sold well, but what would happen once on stage, in front of the crowd?
Verdict: a star as unique as Melanie, the public wants more. “I was blown away,” she confided to WECB. The reception everywhere was incredible, and people were singing along to all the new songs. For any artist, you know, that’s exactly what you hope for. »
The singer, whose real name is Melanie Chisholm, has seen her life and career celebrated, dissected, criticized and rehashed for years. As Sporty Spice, she climbed with the other Spice Girls (Melanie Brown, Emma Bunton, Geri Halliwell-Horner and Victoria Beckham) to the top of the charts in the 1990s, with “zig-a-zig-ah”, carrying high a “girl power” which reigned over the pop culture of the time.
That day, on the phone from London, on a bright afternoon, Melanie exudes optimism. His ninth studio album, Sweatshirtwas released in May, and she has just completed her North American tour. From city to city, from room to room, from the Fonda Theater to the Castro Theater, each time the curtain opened on her, bathed in a halo of neon lights, she took the time to savor the moment.
“The places where I really hadn’t set foot in forever, that’s where it really, really touched me to see that there were still people there to support me,” she says. It was so nice to meet people and hear them talk about the first concert they saw me at, whether it was in 98 with the Spice Girls or my last visit, for the Northern Star concerts. »
She adds: “There is this wonderful community of fans. We all grew up together. »
On Sweatshirtshe returns to her beginnings in the rave scene of the 1990s and picks up the thread of her previous album, Melanie Cwhich already marked a shift of the same order, fully assumed. It all started, during his studies, with a vacation in Spain, which was extended in London with outings every weekend in the best clubs and, from time to time, with parties in warehouses. “What really attracted me was this unity, this joy, this shared experience, the way it brought together so many different communities and cultures,” she remembers. And then I left all that aside, because the Spice Girls came along pretty quickly. »
The group went on indefinite hiatus in 2000. It has reformed a few times since, but Melanie found a new path starting in 2018, behind the decks. “It reignited my passion for dance music, and I’ve never looked back since,” she says. I am so grateful. I had the courage to learn something new at that age. »
The new album brings together several parts of her story: she draws on her memories as a teenage raver, fully embraces her Sporty Spice character and asserts her know-how as a solo artist. The record was released a few years after the end of her long relationship with Joe Marshall, her former manager, and Melanie is now defending it on stage in the first months of her marriage to Australian model Chris Dingwall. The breakup provided him “a great fuel for making music”she explains, and inspired songs like “Flick of the Wrist” or “Good for Nothing”.
“I had it all at the same time, all these phone calls, these arguments, all this anger to get out, but I also met someone and I fell in love with the man who would become my husband,” she says. I feel like (the album) goes through a whole range of human emotions. This record was a real journey for me. » Melanie cites “Drum Machine”, the second song, which has become one of the highlights of her concerts. “This one is just about the moment I fell in love with my husband, about those feelings at the beginning of a story, when it’s so physical”she specifies. As for the clip for the title track, which samples “Work That Body” by Diana Ross, it shows Melanie in pure Sporty style: bodybuilding elastics, spinning bike, Lycra, nothing is missing.
When she reflects on the woman she is today, Melanie, 52, thinks back to the Spice Girls’ fourth tour, the most recent, in 2019 (without Victoria Beckham). “When we went to the stadiums, it finally clicked. I was like, “My God, how can a 40-year-old jump around in Sporty Spice to ‘Wannabe’?” But as soon as we started rehearsing, it was simply there: Sporty Spice, that’s not someone I’m becoming. She is in me. »
She continues: “Being an everyday Spice Girl, I’ve really made peace with that. Even when I’m on stage solo, I have to embrace the Spice Girl in me, because it never goes away. She’s still there, and I felt so much more comfortable. I believe that when we are young, many of us make the mistake of looking outside for who we are, when all that has always been there. »
If Melanie remains evasive about a possible reunion with the other Spice Girls, she agrees to reveal the song she would most want to perform during a new reformation tour. “It’s funny, because what I used to call stupid songs, something like ‘Wannabe’ or ‘Spice Up Your Life’, those are the ones that really bring the house down. People are going completely crazy. So to experience that and see the joy of others, it would be “Wannabe” or “Spice Up Your Life”. » And of course, she doesn’t rule out “Viva Forever” either.
Once her dates in the United Kingdom and Europe, then in Asia and Australia, are completed, Melanie assures that she will return to North America without too much delay. “It was so wonderful to come back and play in America, and then I really felt that people were happy to see me again,” she says, radiant. I felt a little guilty about having waited so long, and I think I just want to say one thing: next time, I won’t wait so long. »
Also read: in 2022, Melanie C revealed she was sexually assaulted before Spice Girls’ first concert.
By Charisma Madarang
