Out of all the Spice Girls, Melanie Chisholm has enjoyed the most second acts.

The pop star the world fell in love with as Sporty Spice, has also been Indie Spice, Theatre Spice, DJ Spice, The Voice Spice, and now Club Spice with her ninth studio record Sweat.

What Could Possibly Go Wrong?, a track midway through her new dance pop record released this week, encapsulates her fearlessness in the face of doubters.

Eight years after launching a successful career behind the decks in an era when every celebrity wanted to be a DJ, Mel C’s latest record confirms her credentials – alongside Madonna, Kylie and Robyn – as a bona fide dance diva.

“I think ‘what could possibly go wrong?’ has been like a subconscious mantra from day dot, because think about it with Spice Girls, right? We were auditioned, the initial management that put us together, we (then) left,” she said.

“We had no money, we had no experience, we had no contacts. What could possibly go wrong?

“But we had belief and we had ambition and we had determination and everything we wanted, we achieved, which is incredible.

“I think I learned really early on with the girls, and thanks to the girls, to be courageous. What’s the expression? Feel the fear and do it anyway, f**k it!”

The album charts the end of a relationship and the beginning of her love story with Australian model and screen writer Chris Dingwall, who she met via celebrity dating app Raya in late 2023.

The break-up songs are both funny and brutal, and Chisholm says “absolutely” when asked if someone is going to recognise themselves in the song Good For Nothing.

“Anger is my energy, my emotion this time around; it brings out an untapped side of me sometimes. I’m not a confrontational person, so it’s good to get those feelings out,” she said.

“The creation of this album is at the cross-section of the end of a relationship, the unentanglement of that situation, which sadly often gets a little bit nasty, and meeting somebody new, falling in love, that relationship evolving. It’s the whole ride.”

The sound of Sweat is rooted in the spirit Chisholm’s rave child days. She was 17 and on her first parent-free holiday in Spain’s Costa Brava with three girlfriends, who called themselves the “F**king Yeah Four”.

The FYF continued their immersion in British club culture through the early 90s until the advent of the Spice Girls.

That first musical love was rekindled when she launched her solo career in 1999 with her debut record Northern Star.

While critics nicknamed her Indie Spice for the record’s Britpop leanings, one of the record’s biggest hits was the Hex Hector remix of I Turn To You, recasting her as Ibiza Spice.

“It was just this amazing kind of awakening; I think for my generation, it was our Woodstock,” Chisholm said of her early experiences of rave culture.

“Obviously because of the drug culture around the scene, people had moved away from drinking and in the UK, like the Aussies, drinking was a big part of our culture, which always brought a lot of violence.

“But at raves, so many people were high and loved up on different things, and there was no fighting, just a real feeling of togetherness.

“If I hadn’t had those experiences as a young person, I wouldn’t have wanted to be a DJ and that has brought so much joy to my life. And informed this record so much as well.”

The Sweat album cover image – Mel C looking toned and strong in a leotard – immediately conjures the memory of an iconic music video of an Aussie pop icon.

She said Olivia Newton-John’s Physical was “absolutely one of the inspirations” driving the record, particularly when it came to unleashing her own cheeky humour in her lyrics.

“That Physical video was totally in my mind. Making this record, injecting some humour into the songs was something I’ve wanted to do for ages but never quite knew how to weave it into the music without it being naff, you know?” she said.

“But it just came really naturally on this one.”

While she has enjoyed two successful DJ tours in Australia, Mel C has never undertaken a national tour here as a pop artist.

That changes in November. And you can count on Spice Girls songs making it onto the setlist for the Aussie shows.

Chisholm laughs when asked if there’s a difference between the backstage riders for her DJ tours versus her pop tours.

“They’re not too different. Probably the honey and the ginger and the lemon on the pop one when I’m singing, and maybe a bit more booze on the DJ rider, but yeah, I try to keep it simple, I don’t like having too much shit in my dressing room,” she said.

“They always make such a big display with it all and I need the space for hair and makeup!”

Sweat is out now. For all November tour dates and tickets, visit livenation.com.au