Celebrating 25 years since the release of their breakout hit C’est La Vie, B*Witched have reunited with original collaborator Ray Hedges to work on their first album in over two decades.
The group launched into the global charts in 1997 with their debut single – the first of four UK No. 1s from the four-piece, alongside Rollercoaster, To You I Belong and Blame It On The Weatherman.
All four songs featured on their self-titled debut album, which recently made its vinyl debut, and Edele and Keavy Lynch, Lindsay Armaou and Sinéad O’Carroll are continuing their 25th anniversary celebrations with the release of their latest single Birthday.
Speaking exclusively in RETROPOP’s April 2023 cover feature, the band open up about their return to the studio, with Edele sharing: “We really wanted to bring B*Witched into 2023. It’s so easy, I think, to just go back and see what the essence was from before and maybe re-do it, but we really wanted to come back with something fresh.”
Of how they ended up back working with the writer and producer again, she explains: “We did a podcast in lockdown and Ray reached out to us and said, ‘Oh my God, we have to do something, it would be so much fun!’
“So we started throwing stuff back and forth to him and he’d already written Birthday – we haven’t written this one – but he played it to us and the second we heard it we were like, ‘Please can we have this?!’”
The track may bring the group’s sound into 2023, but one thing that hasn’t changed is their penchant for denim that became synonymous with the B*Witched brand and which the girls still rock to this day.
They credit stylist Kithe Brewster for the direction, with Lindsay remembering: “At the very beginning, we did a photoshoot to try and get a look going and see what kind of styling was going to suit us. The first one didn’t work and then I remember during the second one there was a Polaroid on the board that everyone kept coming back to, and it was denim on denim.”
Not only did it look good, it was also incredibly convenient: “We could just roll out of bed, throw our jeans on and be ready,” insists Keavy. “It was like a uniform, which is great because when you’re working that much it’s so exhausting.”
And it had other benefits too: “We didn’t have to worry about false tan, hairy legs… it was great,” Sinéad laughs. “But seriously, for groups like Girls Aloud and The Saturdays, it’s like, ‘Oh my gosh’ – it’s stressful to be that immaculate!”
Discussing their comeback, the girls confirm they have various tracks on the go, so does this mean we’re looking at the first B*Witched album in more than 20 years? “We will get to the point of an album. Right now we’re releasing singles, but the singles will keep coming and eventually they’ll be on the album,” Edele reveals, with Lindsay adding: “We’re in the creative process at the moment and we played another one of the new songs [Kings Horses] when we toured with Blue, so there’s definitely more in the pipeline.
“It really is so lovely,” she adds of being back with the girls and working on new material. “Even initially, when we started having these chats and talking about the creative possibilities and everything, I really felt the magic and the dynamic between us, which is quite rare. It definitely does feel like no time has passed at all…”
The single Birthday is out March 10 on Sony.
Read the full interview in the April 2023 edition of RETROPOP, out now. Order yours or subscribe via our Online Store, use our Store Finder to locate your nearest stockist, or get Digital Copies delivered direct to your devices.
