AUDIO: Mica Paris talks about her musical comeback (From News Shopper)

AUDIO: Mica Paris talks about her musical comeback

9:45am Monday 17th August 2009

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From chart topper to TV presenter, Mica Paris has returned to making the music she loves. MATTHEW JENKIN speaks to the UK's queen of soul about her new album, single and tour.

AFTER shooting to fame as a soul singer in the 80s, Mica Paris has had her fingers in so many different pies it’s a surprise she has a free hand to answer my phone call.

Mica was discovered at the tender age of 15 singing gospel in church and by 17 she had signed a record deal.

But despite being touted as Britain’s queen of soul her music career stalled in the 90s and she threw herself into everything from TV presenting to writing a novel.

Now the 40-year-old has returned to her roots with new album Born Again and single The Hardest Thing.

It’s been more than 10 years since she recorded any fresh material, so what brought her back to the studio?

Mica said: “I couldn’t get a record deal. Then I got loads of TV and Radio 2 gave me my own show.

“The industry didn’t really want me, so I said sod it.

“Then I got a call from some hedge fund guys who said they’d like me to make a record again and said I could have my favourite producer Brian Rawlings. It was too good to pass up so I went with it.”

Returning to the studio for the first time after her decade long hiatus, Mica admits to being nervous.

However, after a few months she was back in the groove, singing the music she loves.

The mother-of-two said: “I felt I’d returned back to the place I know and love. It just felt so rewarding because music is something that makes you feel so good.

“The new album is called Born Again because I feel like I’m having a renewal.

“It feels like I’m fresh into it again and it’s like a brand new experience.”

Mica is now set to take her comeback sound on tour, performing at both Gravesend’s Woodville Halls and Croydon’s Fairfield next month.

She promises the show will be a return to the soul sound she’s famous for.

She said: “I’ve got an amazing band and I just love being on stage. It’s just the best feeling. It’s fantastic.

“The show is very intense. Just real raw music. But it’s something you have to come and see because if I sit here speaking about it, it sounds like I’m blowing smoke up my bum.”

Bums aside, it’s hard to know what we can expect from Mica’s show.

Comebacks can be painful, especially when people have had a decade to forget you.

But Mica Paris has the gutsy passion to pull it off and, if the raw funky feel of her latest album is anything to go by, fans old and new will be in for a heart thumping night out.

Mica Paris. Fairfield’s Concert Hall, Croydon, September 10. Call 020 8688 9291.

Woodville Halls, Gravesend, September 18. Call 01474 337774.

Mica's new album Born Again and single The Hardest Thing are out now.