Melanie Chisholm - best known as Sporty Spice - has been putting the finishing touches on her fifth studio album, "The Sea" (see the amazing cover art above), which will be released via independent label Red Girl Records, entirely run and funded by her very own self.
Talking of her new album, Melanie said:
"I'm very excited about the record because, it's quite diverse in styles. I've worked with lots of new writers, people I haven't worked with before. There's still very much a pop element, and I've got some lovely ballads, some rock inspired tracks, some more dancey stuff, some acoustic stuff, and production wise there are some very atmospheric moments. So I really think it's going to be a diverse and stronger album. When I started working with this album, I really didn't know what I wanted to achieve, so I wanted to be ambitious and experiment, work with new people, and try on different styles of music. And through doing that I really discovered the way I wanted to express myself and the sound I wanted to create. All that has made it become quite diverse, and it's funny because I suppose my first studio album Northern Star is probably the most similar to this record in that it does have loads of different styles although it is fundamentally a pop record."
In addition to selling over 75 million records worldwide as part of the Spice Girls, Melanie has forged a successful solo career for herself, scoring a number of hit singles and selling well over 10 million records worldwide. With the Sporty image far behind her, Mel C's developed into quite the vixen - always sexy but never taking it too far - and seems set to return to the top of the charts with an eclectic array of sounds akin to her rock and R&B-tinged debut, 1999's Northern Star, the biggest selling solo Spice release thus far.
Watch the music video for new single "Think About It" below: