SOPHIE ELLIS-BEXTOR WELCOMES YOU TO HER FAMILIA
By DJ FR8-O
Long before “slaying” was a thing, Sophie Ellis-Bextor was taking down the competition with her 2001 club hit “Murder on the Dance Floor.” The iconic track peaked at No. 2 and remained on the world’s most-wanted list for 23 weeks; solidifying Sophie’s status as the new millennium’s most dangerous new dance diva. Over the next decade, she ferociously defended her title with electrifying club anthems like “Take Me Home,” “Get Over You,” “Bittersweet” and “Heartbreak (Make Me a Dancer)” before hanging up her cha-cha heels and getting a little experimental on the baroque chamber pop tapestry Wanderlust (2014). Now the incredibly gifted – and still stunning – singer/songwriter is taking yet another musical detour with Familia, a fresh collection of melodies inspired by her travels throughout Latin America. Reunited with long-time collaborator Ed Harcourt, Sophie’s latest tackle is a barrage of emotions bent on capturing our hearts as well as our feet. Just a few days after Familia’s release, I got a call from the green-eyed diva herself to dish about her new sound, her disco days and what family really means to her.
DJ FR8-O: How has the response to Familia been so far?
Sophie Ellis-Bextor: It’s been great! Really positive actually. I feel like I’ve connected to this record a bit more than Wanderlust and that’s kind of selfishly what I wanted. I wanted to get as much satisfaction from it as possible. I feel like I’m so lucky because I’m doing what I love.
DJF: Being a mother of four kids, family is very important to you. Is that why you named the album Familia?
SEB: It wasn’t 100% what I was thinking, because sometimes family is what you choose as well; as in the friends you have around you and your little community. So yes there was the literal fact that when I was recording this album, I had my 13-week-old baby with me, but then there’s the bigger picture, like the band and the people I work with creatively, some of them for about 15 years now. I think of them as family too and it kind of galvanizes me.
DJF: Familia was inspired by your first trip to Mexico. Besides the music, what’s your favorite thing about Latin culture?
SEB: I always like when I travel somewhere and they’ve got a really strong culture that I can see, because quite often when you’re traveling it feels like a lot of places are getting homogenized and you don’t know where you are because of all the edges are being smoothed out and there’s a lot of similarities happening over and over. Then you go somewhere like Mexico and there’s never any doubt of where you are. It’s got such a strong sense of self, a sound, an aesthetic and a flavor, not to mention a cultural depth. Wanderlust had a real Eastern European feel, quite “wintery,” so I think there was kind of a human instinct to do something completely different by moving everyone to a much warmer climate.
DJF: Do you follow any kind of process when you start recording a new album?
SEB: We always start off just writing songs and getting a feel. Then after about three or four songs, you start to realize that you’re creating a picture. Then you might get a couple of songs that you think “Oh that’s a really important one” and they become keystones in a notch. With this record, it was songs like “Don’t Shy Away,” “Wild Forever” and “Cassandra.”
DJF: I love the disco vibe of the first single “Come With Us.” Was that a little treat for your dance fans?
SEB: Actually it was kind of Ed’s idea. Well, he thinks it was his idea. After we did Wanderlust together and he was touring with me, he was playing things like “Murder on the Dance Floor,” “Take Me Home” and “Groovejet,” and he realized disco was a little more seductive a genre than he thought. So when we got together again, I had a feeling we’d do something disco-y. I’ve always, always wanted to do a live disco record – no tracks, just live bands – because that’s the way they did it in the ‘70s. So it was exciting to do that. We recorded the entire album live, actually. We rehearsed everything for three days and then we had 10 days in the studio to record everything.
DJF: Do you think you’ll ever do another dance album?
SEB: I wouldn’t rule it out. I’m always a bit of a kid with sweets really. I want to be able to eat all of it – a little bit of this, a little bit of that. I can’t ever leave anything completely behind. I spent a lot of time making dance pop, while Wanderlust and Familia harken back to the things I did right in the beginning when I was in a band called Theaudience. That’s a big part of who I am and what I like, but I can really imagine myself getting back into the dance thing again, because that’s a part of me too. I’ll probably just keep going around in a big circle all the time.
DJF: You dedicated “Death of Love” to the victims of the Pulse shooting. Why that song?
SEB: That’s one of my favorite records on the album because a couple of years ago my grandpa died, and when we were at the funeral I just had this sudden overwhelming feeling that the love you create – the people you love and the people who love you back – becomes a lasting legacy and one of the most important things we leave on this planet. That’s what the song is about really. It’s about how the love you make lives on long after you’re gone.
DJF: Will you be touring Familia in the U.S. soon?
SEB: I’d love to. I’ve always said I’ll go wherever they want me. I’m touring the UK and Europe in February. We’ve been rehearsing for our live performances now, so I can’t wait! It’s so exciting when you start doing songs live because they start to grow legs and blossom a bit more. So yeah, I’ll definitely come if people want me.
If you’re a recording artist, producer or musician and would like your work featured in TOP TRAX, hit me up at abarrios@wiremag.com.
This article was originally published in Wire Magazine Issue 41.2016