Ancient heart and US soul set the tempo for Tanita

Tanita Tikaram has a warm, generous laugh that frequently punctuates her conversation when talking about herself.

Now 43, and a comparative music industry veteran of 25 years, it’s clear the singer-songwriter enjoys the position that early success brought her, with five million sales of her 1988 debut album Ancient Heart. It has, she says, allowed her to develop her career at her own pace.

Her latest album, Can’t Go Back, has, like its predecessor Sentimental, been seven years in the making.

“I’m not very productive,” she laughs.

“I hope now I will be a bit more so. I’ve recently been touring and really enjoyed it. I don’t think I notice that time passes. ‘Oh man, that’s seven years ago, oh wow’.”

Can’t Go Back was recorded in the USA with a crack team of American musicians including Ray LaMontagne’s drummer Jay Bellerose, keyboard player Keefus Ciancia, who has worked with the likes of BB King and Elton John, and producer Paul Bryan. Its sound, she agrees, reflects her love of Americana.

“I think, yes, but also I recorded the album in LA – the musicians had worked with T Bone Burnett so that’s sort of how it sounds. When I was thinking about the album I wanted to work with musicians who would have a lot of groove and movement in a way that would make sense with me, rather than impose something. I guess I fitted into that sound.”

There are traces, too, of Dusty Springfield’s classic Dusty in Memphis.

“I’m a huge fan of Dusty Springfield as well,” Tikaram admits. “I have a big weakness for the whole country-soul sound.

“When I was growing up a lot of the music was Motown, Stax, Atlantic and country music – those elements are on the record. As long as it does not become a parody. Those grooves come naturally to American musicians – it’s the reason why I wanted to work in LA.”

Her songwriting has steadily changed tack over the years.

“When you are young you have a kind of childish pride in everything you do,” she notes. “As you get older you are a harsher critic. You are also thinking differently.

“When you’re younger expressing yourself is an achievement. As you get more mature, you are more interested in the craft of writing. Obviously it comes from the same place but you are not the same person, in a sense. You can’t be a kid about it.”

Lately she’s been getting into jazz.

“My appetite for music has been reinvigorated by the musicians I’ve been working with. At the moment I am listening to a lot of jazz – female singers from the 30s, 40s and 50s.

“I don’t know how that will end up in my songs but it will become quite twisted and morphed. You listen to new things and start to think differently.”

She’s honest enough to admit that Ancient Heart, released when she was just 19 years old, effectively set her up for life.

“It’s a good old hit. I think so,” she says. “Even from a young age I had such a strong sense that I wanted to be able to take a lot of time off as well. When you have success like that you work intensely for a few years but it was a way of giving me a certain kind of freedom. It meant that I could be very leisurely about my whole life. I’ve not had the same pressures that some people would’ve had.”

She wasn’t fazed by fame at such a young age.

“It’s amazing but when you are 18 or 19 you don’t think you have anything to compare it to. You think that’s what happens when you make a record. I guess I just thought that was kind of normal. At the time I got on with it. You have so many things going on, you don’t have time to think.”

How does she feel when she stumbles across perhaps her most famous song, Twist In My Sobriety, on the radio?

“That’s still a good record,” she says. “It’s funny, when I started people thought I had a very old voice. When I hear myself I can really hear a young voice. On my new record my voice is much richer.

“The important thing is it’s still a voice, it still has its own character. I can hear a lot of things – sometimes I’m thinking ‘What am I doing?’ and sometimes I’m pleasantly surprised and think, ‘That’s charming’.”

Leeds City Varieties date for singer’s return to the road

This month Tikaram embarks on her first UK tour for several year. She’s not sure what kind of audiences to expect.

“I’ve just been playing in Germany, Switzerland and Austria where the audiences were lovely. I hope it will be the same in England.”

She’s entertained by the thought of playing at Leeds City Varieties, where Charlie Chaplin once performed. “That’s going to be cool,” she says. We look like The Ladykillers, me and my band. We make sense in an old music hall.”

January 27, Leeds City Varieties. 0113 243 0808.www.cityvarieties.co.uk