Sophie Ellis-Bextor is celebrating 20 years of her debut solo single Groovejet (If This Ain’t Love) with a brand new recording of the track.
The singer-songwriter started her career in indie band Theaudience and, after they split in 1999, worked with DJ Spiller and sung the vocals on the hit single.
Groovejet hit No. 1 on the UK charts and, celebrating 20 years since achieving the feat, Sophie took to Instagram to mark the occasion and confirm plans to re-record the song for her new album, Songs From the Kitchen Disco.
Admitted that she didn’t originally like dance music and was worried that the indie scene would think she had lost “all credibility”, she penned: “This is a still from 20 years ago when I flew to Bangkok to film the video for Groovejet. Little did I know back then how many places Groovejet would take me.
“At the time, it felt like a slightly crazy thing to do a dance tune. I’d been in an indie band up until then and dance music was a whole unknown,” the Bittersweet star continued.
“I was a bit worried the folk in the indie scene would think I’d lost all credibility- because that was a really big thing in my mind at the time – but I was feeling a bit burned by all that had gone on with my band.
“And instinctively I felt like a change would do me good. As it happens, I didn’t really like dance music (or at least I thought I didn’t) when I first heard the instrumental to the track but there was something about the music that I liked and I thought ‘Why not?'”
She continued: “I think I needed something to shake things up a bit after I’d lost my record deal when I was 20. Anyhoo since then I’ve jumped around from different genres a lot and it’s all thanks to the adventure I had with Groovejet.
“Not because it was such a successful tune – although that’s lovely of course – but because it taught me to follow my nose when it came to what I wanted to do with my singing.
“It’s seen me right ever since and I’ve had a career full of opposites. I’ve gone from singing at Glastonbury one summer to singing at Ibiza the next, releasing a trance single then putting out folk straight after, from singing with an orchestra in the autumn to disco in my kitchen by spring.”
Reflecting on her “bonkers” career, she quipped: “All a bit bonkers I admit but SO MUCH FUN. Thank you, Groovejet. You’re 20 now but you still live at home with your mum and I can’t see that changing any time soon.
“ps I’ve just recorded a new 2020 version with James from the Freemasons and it’s been so great to sing it all over again in the studio,” Sophie added. “You’ll hear it when the Songs from the Kitchen Disco album is out. Xx.”
Sophie’s new album, Songs From The Kitchen Disco, features the star’s classic hits and cover versions she performed on her hugely popular Instagram Live series during lockdown. It will be released on October 23rd.
Tickets for The Kitchen Disco Tour are available here.
