Following a hugely successful run with Steps that saw the group release two hit albums, tour the UK and top the charts with their ‘Platinum Collection’, Claire Richards returns with her second solo album, ‘Euphoria’.
The follow-up to her 2019 debut, ‘My Wildest Dreams’, is billed as “a lovingly curated collection of covers of songs by female singers who have helped shape Claire as an artist”, with the vocal powerhouse telling RETROPOP’s September issue she was keen to “explore the voices that I grew up listening to”.
“I didn’t want to do an album of ballads, especially after ‘My Wildest Dreams’, because I’ve enjoyed performing all the old Steps stuff,” she smiles. “I felt like I wanted to carry that on and have a load of bangers that everyone can stick on and be like, ‘Oh my God, this is the best playlist anybody has ever put together!’.”
While her previous LP was largely a mid tempo affair, this time around she goes all out, tackling anthems like This Time I Know It’s For Real (Donna Summer), Song For The Lonely (Cher) and Never Trust A Stranger (Kim Wilde).
Lead single, a discoed-up version of Celine Dion’s 2002 ballad I Surrender, is the embodiment of her vision: “I always thought that my voice was better suited to ballads but actually, if you think about Celine and Whitney and Donna Summer and Barbra Streisand – who all have that kind of voice – their best songs are bangers.
“It’s also understanding and knowing what your audience wants as well,” she adds, admitting the title was the final part of the project to fall into place – on the same day she was shooting the artwork, no less – when she was booked to headline the Grand Final Party on the Pier Head at the Eurovision Village in Liverpool.
“At that point Euphoria wasn’t on the album but someone said, ‘You should do a Eurovision song because you’ve got a captive audience’, and Euphoria by Loreen was the obvious choice because, apart from ABBA, it’s probably the best Eurovision song ever,” she offers, happy to point out her “controversial” take. “But we also didn’t have a title for the album and we’d spent weeks going through every single word in the dictionary, because I knew I wanted it to be one word and nothing that we thought of felt right.
“So it was in the back of the car on the way to shoot the album cover that we decided to do Euphoria for the Eurovision gig and I said, ‘Actually, ‘Euphoria’ is quite a good title – that’s what we should call it’. And the album was done by that point – it was only meant to be a 10-track album…”
Although late in the day, they managed to book studio time and record the song which now appears as the opening number on the record – and as luck would have it, Claire found herself sat alongside Loreen at the Attitude Pride Awards and got to thank her for the spark of inspiration. “I was like, ‘Thank you so much, you gave me my album title!’ She was very gracious and very lovely about it.”
Also featured on ‘Euphoria’ are two duets, with Claire calling on Australian superstar Delta Goodrem for a powerhouse rendition of Barbra Streisand and Donna Summer’s No More Tears (Enough Is Enough), while Erasure frontman Andy Bell joins her on ABBA’s Summer Night City.
Of the former – which Claire previously performed live with her Steps bandmates Faye Tozer and Lisa Scott-Lee during their 2017 ‘Party On The Dancefloor Tour’ – she reveals it was producer Steve Anderson that put them in contact and admits it was touch and go for a while when Delta was forced to take time out and postpone her European tour dates after straining her vocal cords
“We knew we were going to do it and we were having a conversation about who to do it with,” she remembers. “Steve knows Delta and he’s worked with her before, so I said, ‘Oh my God, that’s perfect – do you think she would?’, and he said, ‘Well, all I can do is put it out there, so let’s ask her…’
“She said ‘yes’ and I actually couldn’t believe it – and then she went on voice rest for a month,” laughs the hitmaker, who at the time of recording had yet to come face to face with her singing partner! “Everything’s been remote because she was in Australia, so I hope we’ll at least get to meet and have dinner or something!”
Meanwhile, it was Andy’s team that approached Claire about working together. “Andy Bell and I have known eachother since we were on the same season of ‘Popstar To Opera Star’ in 2011. Our teams got chatting about a possible duet, which I was instantly up for. We suggested doing Summer Night City because we knew my album was going to be a covers album” she recalls, with the song selection apt for the synth-pop legend, who topped the charts back in 1992 with Erasure’s ‘Abba-esque’ EP.
Due August 25, ‘Euphoria’ arrives amid a run of solo shows, including performances at Margate Pride, the Popworld Festival, and Manchester’s Via, along with Steps’ headline set at Brighton Pride – their only UK show of the year.
Will there be a headline solo tour too? “I hope so,” she grins. “I feel like it’s something that the fans will want to see live, because there’s so much that we could do with it. I think it would be amazing. My favourite thing is touring and performing – it’s what we do it for – so fingers crossed!”
There’s an irony that, 25 years into her career, Claire – who, in the past, has had no reservations in sharing her longing for a day when Steps finally tone down their high-energy performances – is out here, on her own terms, with one of the most energised projects of her career so far.
It’s symbolic of a new mindset, partly from age and also the recent recognition of the group’s legacy, that sees her embracing life to the full and living in the moment. “With age there’s a bit more of a ‘fuck it’ kind of attitude,” she says, “not wanting to swear” but with a notable twinkle in her eyes. “We’re here to have fun and to entertain people – and if we look like we’re having fun, I think that really translates to the audience. It just makes everybody feel so much better, because what’s the point if you’re not enjoying it?”
Read the full interview in the September 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.
