Multi million-selling British singer-songwriter Tanita Tikaram is back with new album ‘Closer To the People’, inspired by a biography she happened to read.
Tanita tells HuffPost UK her latest music started to take form after she read a biography of American jazz singer Anita O'Day, a woman who overcame her personal demons to perform jazz for the best part of six decades. Tanita describes her as living with the contradiction of "dark addictions, but also a tireless zest for life. This whole album is really a riff on her salvaging obsession with music".
Tanita Tikaram is back with 'Closer To The People'
Tanita's enduring passion for music has seen her taste the heights of pop success in 1988 with her multi million-seller 'Ancient Heart' album, including huge hit 'Twist in My Sobriety' - "it was surreal, I remember walking down Oxford Street and I could heard my songs in one shop after another" - through to the present era of artists sharing their thoughts direct with fans on social media.
"I think we can be overwhelmed by other people's opinions, but I find it easiest to share the music I'm listening to. That way, I'm communicating but through music, which has always felt very natural.
Tanita will be bringing her new music to audiences in a rare London headline, at Kings Place on 14 April. "There are so fewer ways to really share music that live performing is more important than ever," she says. "And that's where I feel really at home, where you can build a relationship with the audience, and feel their energy coming back to you. That's something that hasn't changed."
Tanita debuts 'Glass Love Train' today - listen above - ahead of release on 18 March. The new album, 'Closer to the People' is out on 8 April. Click here for info and tour tickets.