Andy Bell: When I was working in Erasure, we had a certain way of doing things. We would write the songs on piano and guitar before going into the studio. We also had certain parameters that we worked with. Vince decides whether he’s going to use monophonic synthesizers and whether we’re going to use choir or things like that. Also because we do everything within a certain time period. We know when we’re going to be in the studio, when the album needs to be delivered by.

Working on Electric Blue was a thing that I did in my spare time. Going around to the guy’s house, who lives near me in London. We would work on tracks at his place or they would send me a CD with some new music that they’d been working on and I would sing the new melody on top of what they’d done. It was just a different way of working. Also, when you’re working with two people, as in Erasure, I’d pass the lyrics by Vince to see if they’re okay. This time I could have carte blanche and just do what I wanted to do.

AE: It was a little more liberating.
AB: Yeah. I really love dance music. My all-time favorite album of Vince’s is Yaz’s first album. I said to Vince one time, “Why don’t you work on some rhythm tracks or some really good bass lines and you can send them to me and I’ll come up with the melodies.” He’s always been quite traditional, and he said “No. You need a really good song,” which I agree with. But now he’s heard Electric Blue, he thinks we can try it the other way around as well.

AE: That’s wonderful. It’s like opening a new door in your relationship.
AB: Yeah.

AE: You also said that “It’s quite diva-ish.” How much more diva-ish did you feel you needed to be on Electric Blue than you were in Erasure?
AB: It’s because of the way the album’s been approached. It’s very up-tempo. We’ve doing public appearances in clubs. It’s made me realize how hard those women work in night clubs. We did one thirty minute P.A. in Berlin. All the clubs that I go to in London are all electro-based. At this moment, these clubs are really trendy and I’m doing P.A.s in all of them. It feels really good, like being at home. I’m really enjoying it (laughs).

AE: As someone who spent many years as part of a duo, you have some interesting duet partners on Electric Blue. There is Claudia Brücken, of Propaganda and Act fame. How did you come to work with her?
AB: Claudia was suggested by Chris Smith, he’s one of the guys from Manhattan Clique. I’d met her a couple of times at some Christmas parties. I walked up to her and said, “A fanatic should never be underestimated,” which is one of the opening lines of her first solo album. She was a bit taken aback that I knew it.

I didn’t realize how much of her work that I had, including the first Propaganda album and Act. I thought (the duet) was a really good idea because her voice is really distinctive and unique. I love the dramaticness of it. And she’s quite a diva herself. I’m really impressed at how professional other people are. We gave her a choice of about fourteen songs. She chose “Delicious,” because she thought it was quite apt for herself having been through a divorce and all this kind of stuff.

AE: What about Jake Shears of Scissor Sisters?
AB: We had been invited to go and see them at the Hammersmith. They dedicated a song to me, which was quite embarrassing. We went backstage afterwards taking lots of photos and getting drunk. We swapped e-mails and I sent him a song purely on the chance that he would like it and he loved it and said that he would love to be a part of it.

AE: In addition to a strong dance vibe, you dabble with a sixties soul influence on “Shaking My Soul.”
AB: I love Northern Soul, as it’s called here in England. I used to go these Northern Soul clubs where they played that Motown inspired music. It was before body-popping and all that kind of dancing. It was quite acrobatic. Men would dance with each other, but it was more like a dancing duel.

AE: One of my favorite songs on the album is the beautiful ballad “The Rest of Our Lives.” How would you feel if the song was used in same sex marriage ceremonies?
AB: That would be really lovely. That song reminds me of an unmade bed (laughs).

E: Speaking of same sex marriage, you are going to perform at the Wed Rock benefit concert in L.A.
AB: We were invited to play and I thought, why the hell not. We’ve got quite a following in L.A. and California. I’ve got lots of friends there, most of whom are my boyfriend Paul’s friends. Paul is from Carmel. I think it’s outrageous that you get someone like Arnold Schwarzenegger whose come up through the ranks and had a huge gay following and then turned his back on the very same people when he came to power.

AE: You are also doing some DJ gigs in the States.
AB: I would love to do some P.A.s as well. Logistically, DJing is the easiest thing for me to do to give people value for money. I’ll be playing my favorite electro music for one to two hours. Hopefully, there’ll be a couple of Andy Bell tracks in there and I can sing over them while they’re playing. They have mics and stuff and I would have no problem doing that at all.

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