Sophie Ellis-Bextor on Gibraltar debut and the return of ‘Murder on the Dancefloor’

Sophie Ellis-Bextor is looking forward to making her Gibraltar performance debut when she takes to the stage at the Gibraltar Music Festival this Friday, September 4.

The singer, whose 2001 hit Murder on the Dancefloor enjoyed a major resurgence after featuring in the film Saltburn, said she was excited to perform in Gibraltar after previously visiting the Rock on holiday with her children.

In an interview ahead of the festival, Ms Ellis-Bextor also discussed the renewed success of Murder on the Dancefloor, her latest album Perimenopop and the conversations surrounding women in their 40s and midlife.

Q. Are you looking forward to coming to Gibraltar and performing at the newly reinstated Gibraltar Music Festival?

A. I haven't played in Gibraltar before. I've been to Gibraltar once as part of a little holiday I went on with the kids, but this is my first gig there and I'm really looking forward to doing it. The Feeling, my husband's band, did this festival a while back and really enjoyed themselves, so yeah, I think we're gonna have fun. 

Q. Murder on the Dancefloor had a resurgence after the film Saltburn. Why do you think the song had such a resurgence and how was it for you personally to see a song return to the charts?

A. Oh, so many emotions. I mean, Murder was such a... always been such a significant song for me anyway, as the first solo hit that I ever had. And so, I think it's that twofold really. There's something lovely about having an old friend take you on a new adventure, no matter which of the old songs it would have been. 

But the fact it was Murder was kind of extra significant in a way, because it was one of my first songs I ever released. It was kind of crazy to be reawakening a lot of the emotions of when that first came out, whilst also making my eighth album at a different point in my career. I really enjoyed the duality of that and all the adventures that came with it, because it was just so much fun. 

And as to the ‘why’, that's never been my strong suit. I'm not here for the ‘why’ of any of my music, I'm here for how they make me feel and that's always been the thing that I've been beckoned by really. 

If it makes me feel good, then I put it in the albums and go and sing it around the world, whatever it may be, all my songs. 

Q. What can festivalgoers expect from your set?

A. Lots of fun. We've been touring the album Perimenopop for a little while now, so it's kind of some old, some new. But, essentially, a little bit of disco escapism is always on the menu.

Q. Your most recent album Perimenopop was inspired by the perimenopause. How has that shaped your album?

A. I'm going to nitpick, it's not been inspired by that. That was kind of a slightly tongue-in-cheek nod to the expectations and conversations around women my age. So no, not directly inspired by perimenopause at all. More inspired by the conversations that surround women in their mid-40s and the expectations thereof and how I adore pop music and I also really like getting older and I wanted to put my age front and centre in the record because it's the prism through which, you know, your perspective is formed. 

So, it was kind of essential that the album put it front and centre and that was what inspired it. So no, not perimenopause but just being in my 40s and a pop star and seeing what felt like.

Q. What do you think more women need to know about perimenopause? 

A. There's tonnes of amazing education and information. It's a great time to be a woman in your midlife, because so many people are having those conversations, but I think for all women, no matter who you are, and what you're up to. I think, for this chapter, it's about understanding you're more than just going through that. 

You're so many things, it's such a rich life and there's so much unexpected pleasure to getting older. Knowing yourself and good friends around you, all the long routes of the relationships and the things that you like and knowing yourself the best.  

There's more to life and, as it happens, I wasn't even going through it when I made the record. It was more just a nod to the expectation that that's the conversation you're going to have and look, here's us having it. 

But when I go to Gibraltar, we'll put all of it to the side and we'll just have a lovely disco dance together. 

It's going to be fun. See you there.