{"id":610628,"date":"2026-04-28T05:05:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-28T05:05:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/610628\/"},"modified":"2026-04-28T05:05:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T05:05:11","slug":"mel-c-of-the-spice-girls-interview-melanie-c-talks-new-album-sweat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/610628\/","title":{"rendered":"Mel C of the Spice Girls Interview: Melanie C talks new album ‘Sweat’"},"content":{"rendered":"

NEW YORK (AP) \u2014 Get your heart pumpin\u2019. She\u2019ll make you \u201cSweat.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

Such is the promise sung by the artist known as Melanie C, or Mel C and Sporty Spice<\/a> of the game-changing \u201890s girl group Spice Girls, in the lead single from her ninth album of the same name. Atop a sample of Diana Ross\u2019 \u201cWork That Body\u201d<\/a> and sleek house-pop production, it is equal parts club banger and workout anthem, something for the DJ booth and a runner\u2019s playlist.<\/p>\n

Surprised? Don\u2019t be. Eight or so years ago, Melanie C began deejaying, reinvigorating her love of rave and dance music \u2014 early loves that predate her girl group days. \u201cDeejaying is so much fun, and it\u2019s brought so much joy into my life that it made it really important that this album, as an artist, was a lot closer to what I love to play as a DJ,\u201d she told The Associated Press. <\/p>\n

It might come as a surprise to some of her fans, but the truth is, this musical world has always held a special place in her heart. \u201cBefore I was part of the Spice Girls, I discovered rave culture,\u201d she explains. \u201cI was 19. I went into this nightclub. I was on holiday with some friends. I heard this music. I saw people dancing. It was like this utopia I\u2019d never experienced.\u201d <\/p>\n

Then superstar fame happened,<\/a> which makes \u201cSweat\u201d an unusual release for her in at least one very specific way: \u201cI feel like I brought some of my life pre-Spice Girls into this album,\u201d she said. \u201cWhich is something I haven\u2019t really done before.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dance floor therapy<\/p>\n

Melanie C was hard at work on \u201cSweat\u201d for two and a half years, writing and recording across London, Stockholm and Los Angeles, a period that proved to be uniquely transformative. \u201cMy life had twists and turns. You know? I had a long-term relationship that ended. I had a management change. I\u2019m back with Virgin Records,\u201d she lists. \u201cI\u2019m in a new relationship. So, there\u2019s been difficult moments within it and there\u2019s been great times. And all of that is reflected in the album.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Melanie<\/p>\n

Melanie C poses for a portrait in New York on Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025. (Photo by Taylor Jewell\/Invision\/AP)<\/p>\n

Melanie C poses for a portrait in New York on Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025. (Photo by Taylor Jewell\/Invision\/AP)<\/p>\n

Add AP News on Google <\/p>\n

Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google.<\/p>\n

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Appropriately, catharsis appears to be a major theme. Like on the song \u201cAttitude\u201d \u2014 with its sample of Inner Life\u2019s \u201980s disco<\/a> classic, \u201cMoment Of My Life\u201d \u2014 where she cheers, \u201cEvery night\u2019s a Friday!\u201d<\/p>\n

Or, even more directly, the song \u201cPressure.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cUnder the pressure,\u201d she sings on the explosive electronic track, before offering a one-word solution: \u201cRelease.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re under such incredible pressure and I think we put ourselves under it, too. And that\u2019s why I\u2019ve loved bringing in this joy of, you know, the club,\u201d she said. \u201cFor me, as a human, that is the release.\u201d<\/p>\n

There has long been a connection between dance music, joy and resiliency \u2014 particularly in queer club culture. Melanie C says honoring her LGBTQ+ audience<\/a> has always been key to her work.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a community that\u2019s been important to myself and the Spice Girls for such a long time,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s always going to be a big part of the music that I make.\u201d<\/p>\n

From Sporty Spice to Melanie C<\/p>\n

If \u201cSweat\u201d is an album about the freedom of a dance floor, it\u2019s a destination Melanie C has worked hard to arrive at\u2014 particularly considering her life now, three decades removed from the Spice Girls\u2019 heyday. For many, she is still Sporty Spice. And she understands that. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not Sporty Spice or Melanie C; I\u2019m both of those things. And not just some of the time, but all of the time,\u201d she said. \u201cI think it\u2019s really important to acknowledge that,\u201d to embrace her legacy and build a new one.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to make people feel good,\u201d she says of this new musical era.<\/a> \u201cI want to empower them. I want to motivate people.\u201d<\/p>\n

But she also hopes they use \u201cSweat\u201d as a break, an escape, some downtime. <\/p>\n

\u201cRecovery is a really important part of working out,\u201d she laughs.<\/p>\n

Spoken like Sporty Spice \u2014 and Melanie C.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEW YORK (AP) \u2014 Get your heart pumpin\u2019. She\u2019ll make you \u201cSweat.\u201d Such is the promise sung by…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":610629,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[84741,88,793,120299,216,965],"class_list":["post-610628","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-diana-ross","tag-entertainment","tag-general-news","tag-melanie-chisholm","tag-music","tag-world-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/610628","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=610628"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/610628\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/610629"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=610628"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=610628"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=610628"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}