Claire Richards is working on the follow-up to her 2019 solo album ‘My Wildest Dreams’.
The Steps star made her Top 10 debut with the LP, featuring the singles On My Own, End Before We Start and Shame On You, before reuniting with the group the following year for their sixth album ‘What The Future Holds’.
It led to a UK arena tour, follow-up ‘What The Future Holds Pt. 2’ and the five-piece’s ‘Platinum Collection’ greatest hits record – but now she’s back in the studio doing her own thing.
In a Q&A on Instagram after being eliminated from ‘The Masked Singer UK’, the singer was asked “When are we getting the new CR album?” to which she replied: “Working on a new album at the moment so I hope very soon!”
On the direction of the music, she added: “The plan is to make an uplifting, get on the dancefloor album.”
Steps rocketed to the top of the UK Charts with their ‘Platinum Collection’, making them the first British mixed-gender group to have a No. 1 album in four consecutive decades.
Speaking in an exclusive cover feature in the September 2022 issue of RETROPOP, the group look back on their pop legacy and reveal the significance of their latest milestone.
Ian ‘H’ Watkins says: “When we released our first single, everybody laughed at us. All of the cool cats laughed at us. The record company big-wigs wanted us to go away and then with every single they laughed louder, they laughed harder.
“And then 25 years later, none of those cool cats are around, all those music execs have probably been ditched, and we’re still here.”
And when it comes to the next chapter in Steps’ legacy, Claire maintains the band is living in the moment with their ongoing summer tour – but insists there’s more to come.
“I think we’ve come to realise since we got back together in 2011 that it is good for us to have little gaps here and there,” she says. “It also reminds people of the whole nostalgia of Steps as well, which is a massive part of what we are. So, we don’t want to keep ramming ourselves down people’s throats.
“Once we’re done with all the summer shows to end this little chapter, we’ll start thinking about the next one…”
