Gary Kemp struggled to revive his solo career because he always felt like he was in the “shadow” of Spandau Ballet. 

The musician in July with ‘INSOLO’, his second solo album and first in 25 years, after 1995’s ‘Little Bruises’. 

In the following years, the group reunited to release ‘Once More’ in 2009, before frontman Tony Hadley quit the band in 2015 and they ultimately went on hiatus in 2019. 

And according to the Ahead of the Game star, accepting that part of his life is over has been liberating, because up until now he always had “one foot in Spandau Ballet world”. 

In an exclusive interview with Retro Pop, he shares: “I went for a long period of having writer’s block, and a lot of the writer’s block isn’t in the music – it’s in the lyrics. 

“I was really stuck and not knowing what to write about, and I think that was because I still had one foot in Spandau Ballet world.”

Gary explains: “It’s always much harder writing for someone else to sing than writing for yourself to sing. You can give yourself very difficult lyrics, but it’s really hard to give that to another singer. 

“Once I’d let go of that and stepped away from that shadow of possibility, I felt free.”

‘Insolo’ features 10 new tracks, including Waiting For the Band, with lyrics like ‘Even though we’re all estranged / I never really felt short changed / I’m still waiting for the band’ seemingly referencing the classic group. 

However, while Gary admits there are “elements” of the band’s history in the track, he insists he isn’t “sitting around waiting for the band to get back together”.

When asked about plans for a 40th anniversary reunion, he quips: “It’d be nice if we just spoke to each other…

“Some of us still talk, some of us don’t,” he says, adding, “I can’t see us getting together now.”

‘INSOLO’ is available to pre-order on CD and LP. Signed CDs are also available.