Sophie Ellis-Bextor found recording her new album "stressful".
The 37-year-old singer – who has sons Sonny, 12, Kit, seven, Ray, four, and Jesse, 11 months, with husband Richard Jones – spent just 11 days in the studio working on ‘Familia’, and she admits making the LP with her youngest son in tow, while also looking after her band and caring for her family meant it wasn’t the easiest of experiences.
She said: "It was bonkers because we did that and I also had my baby in the studio, who was 13-14 weeks old at the time, and I cooked for the band every night so it was quite stressful."
The album is a direct follow-up to her 2014 record ‘Wanderlust’ – which she worked on with musician and producer Ed Harcourt – as it also features songs based on the same witch character she had created for that LP.
Sophie explained: "When I started making ‘Wanderlust’, it gave me ability to write in a different kind of way, so the first song that Ed and I wrote was called ‘Love is a Camera’ and it’s about a witch and when she takes your photo she steals your soul and she lives in a spooky house on a hill and it was a lovely departure.
"So when we did ‘Familia’ we revisited her so this is the same character carrying on from the last album, she has been driven mad by all the souls that she has stolen. Writing about characters is like a brilliant spring board and inspiration."
Away from her own work, the ‘Murder on the Dancefloor’ hitmaker loves to discover new artists.
She said: "I love the War on Drugs album, I’ve listened to that loads. A band called C Duncan, who I saw at Glastonbury, I think that album was really lovely (sic)".