WORTH A LOOK?: ****

This single marks Ellis-Bextor’s return to working with Ed Harcourt who co-wrote her Wanderlust and Familia albums before her greatest hits and Kitchen Disco eras.

• Read on for reasons including everything we know about Ellis-Bextor’s new album Hana

Breaking The Circle is more upbeat than we were expecting and lyrically champions daring: ‘Here we go into the light of the great unknown … Come with me and we can change what the end might be … And when the morning comes will everything feel the same?’

It’s from Ellis-Bextor’s 7th solo album, her 1st of original material for 7 years, called Hana which is released on 2 June.

Hana is the Japanese word for ‘blossom’ and it was inspired by a trip to Japan before Covid.

Ellis-Bextor said: ‘Because I hadn’t been before, I had lots of ideas about what [Japan] might be like. The [album’s] soundscape is like someone’s idea of what a place might be like before they get there. That trip also became significant in a wider sense because it was the last bit of travel I did before everything shut down.

‘There are themes of optimism, new starts, adventures and reflections….This is our third record together after Wanderlust and Familia. The first songs written were really inspired by the upcoming trip to Japan. In the end, the album ended up being inspired by that trip and so much more.’

There’s an album launch show at Lafayette in London which has already sold out. There’s also a 16-date Christmas Kitchen Disco tour including an Eventim Apollo gig.

We last saw Ellis-Bextor in April 2022 on the original Kitchen Disco tour and said: ‘We’ve seen Ellis Bextor on tour many times – at this year’s glorious Victorious Festival in Southsea, in venues as diverse as The 02 last year, the Royal Festival Hall in 2018, KOKO in 2017, Bush Hall, supporting Pet Shop Boys in Brighton and fronting Theaudience at Southsea’s Wedgewood Rooms last century – and 1 thing she does more recently brilliantly is encore memorably offstage and up high, here with My Favourite Things from The Sound Of Music.’

We can’t wait to hear some original material from 1 of our favourite singer/songwriters following a hugely entertaining detour in which she has engaged with her fans more successfully than she ever has.

• Main picture via Facebook courtesy Sophie Ellis-Bextor Tickets
• Have you seen a Sophie Ellis-Bextor show before and what do you think of this song? Let us know what you thought in the comments below
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