The Siobhan Identity: Siobhan Donaghy

The secret to a happy life, Oscar Wilde once observed, is to appreciate being deceived. Gigwise’s first encounter with Siobhan Donaghy begins expecting a statuesque red-haired former pop diva with a lilting Irish accent straight from a Paddy Clark novel. Lazing at EMI headquarters in Hammersmith on an early summer morning, Gigwise's preconceptions are wiped away by Donaghy’s disarmingly cockney, “awright”, accompanied by the sound of flip flopping feet. After sitting down, Starbucks coffee in hand, Donaghy chats about her latest album ‘Ghosts’, "the head **** of working in the music industry", and That Band She Used To Be In, which, by the end of the interview, we’re almost apologetic to ask about. She exudes the serenity of someone returning from six-months in Goa. It hasn’t always been like this, but more of that later.

In truth, Siobhan’s glowing, auburn hair and distinctive voice are about the only features remaining from when she first arrived on the scene 10 years ago in Sugababes. Calling her debut solo album ‘Revolution In Me’ was a strong statement of intent from the north Londoner; following it up with a Cocteau Twins, Brian Eno and Kate Bush influenced electro dream pop opus called ‘Ghosts’ effectively completes her transformation from her former group's sulky pop to the sonic complexity of her new material.

‘Ghosts’ was written and recorded in a 500-year-old chateau in a sleepy town in north western France over last winter with Donaghy’s producer and co-writer James Sanger (Keane, U2, Faithless). The gestation period has been long; interrupted by Sanger’s two spells in rehab, and Donaghy’s need to head home from her claustrophobic surroundings. The results combine shimmering pop brilliance with moments of left field instrumentation, culminating in the title track's eerie backwards vocals and 'Halcyon Days', which wouldn't sound out of place on Massive Attack's 'Mezzanine'. ‘Hole In The Head’, it ain’t. So how come things took so long?

“I never have too much urgency in my life to get things done,” Donaghy explains. “I just wanted it to be the best record I’ve made in my career so far. The main influences were The Cocteau Twins, Kate Bush, early Annie Lennox. I listened to a lot of Brian Eno and trippy 60s French music with James Sanger, the producer,” she ponders. “The album was recorded in a ghost town. In the winter all the kids were off skiing, there was nobody there under the age of 30 and we didn’t have any neighbours so it would’ve felt quite isolated anyway. None of the doors locked or anything, I had my own building and at night it used to freak me out…”

As most musicians will tell you, making albums is tortuous work at the best of times. Throw in Donaghy’s break up blues, Sanger's heroin addiction, isolated surroundings, and heated arguments with the producer, and ‘Ghosts’ emerges as a complicated work far removed from her pop roots. “It’s a really emotive record,” she explains. “I hear a lot of almost desperation in there, not really enjoying myself being out there with James and with him being an addict he wasn’t enjoying himself either,” she adds. “It was a really stressful time for the pair of us and I don’t know why I persevered with it to be honest. We were just hating each other most of the time.” Gigwise nods and scribbles notes, conscious the interview is turning into a psychiatrist’s report.

“It’s only when we got to the end of the record that we had immense respect for each other, really sticking it out when most people would walk away and think, I can’t stand you! There was a tension there between me and James and I think that’s why it worked," she says. "I think 'Ghosts' is more of a solid direction. On the last record, while I still stand by it, I think it was a collection of different genres and ideas. It was the first time in my musical career that I had ever had the chance to just make the record I wanted to make."