AFTER 25 years in the business and eight studio albums, you might think confidence would come easily to Tanita Tikaram.
But the multi-million selling British singer/songwriter who first shot to fame in 1988 with internationally acclaimed album Ancient Heart says the nerves still take over before every show.
Speaking before her tour date at Kensington and Chelsea’s Cadogan Hall, she said: “I’m feeling very nervous about it - being nervous before performing is something that’s never gone away for me so I just have to live with it. But I do think it’s important to feel those nerves because it means that you still care about doing your best. Once I start to sing all my anxiety goes away and afterwards it feels like the best experience ever.”
Born to a Malaysian mother and Indian-Fijian father, Tanita spent her early life in Germany where her father was posted as a British Army officer and moved with her family to Basingstoke when she was 12.
Feeling isolated whilst living in the suburbs drove her further into music and by the age of 16, she was writing her own songs. During her teens she became well known on the music scene around London, singing in clubs. She saved enough money to make a demo tape which found its way to an agent and manager, who came to see her perform at a West London club and her career took off within a matter of weeks.
Best known for her top 10 hit singles Good Tradition and Twist In My Sobriety, Tanita went on to record seven albums, releasing the last one in 2005.
So after a seven year break, fans were delighted when Tanita released her eighth studio album, Can’t Go Back, last year and will be clamouring to catch her on tour.
She said: “As you become more mature, you start to assess what isn’t coming across in your music that you would like to, so Can’t Go Back was important to me because I wanted to make an album that had a lot of movement and groove. It’s influenced by soul and country, but I wanted to balance that to keep my own style in there too.”
Tanita recorded Can’t Go Back in Los Angeles with producer Paul Bryan, keyboardist Keefus Ciancia who has worked with B.B. King and Elton John, Ray LaMontagne’s drummer Jay Bellerose, her friend the guitarist Mark Creswell, and guest vocalist American folk singer/songwriter Grant Lee Phillips.
She said: “It was very intimidating because these are very established musicians and I didn’t know whether they would embrace my music or not. But as soon as I walked into the studio we had a sound together which works so well for this album.
“Can’t Go Back is the song that best sums up the spirit of the album... the desire to live in the moment and the temptation to revise the past. I can’t wait to get out there and start playing the new songs to everyone.”
With a career spanning decades, Tanita is now something of an old hand at the music industry and looks back at starting out in the 80s as a more supportive time for musicians.
She said: “I think it must be frighteming for artists now, not being able to physically sell the music they make, and I don’t know if there is as much support for young artists. It seems like there isn’t time to really take an artist under their wing and nurture them.”
So far the new tour has covered Germany, Switzerland and Austria as well as the length and breadth of the UK, and will finish up at the Cadogan Hall on February 2.
Tanita said: “It will be a real mish mash of old and new songs. The trio I play with are really good and the whole performance is very warm hearted. There has been a great reaction to it so far. I’m really enjoying performing so that’s something I’d like to do more of this year. I’d been away for so long that I surprised myself with how much I enjoyed it.
“As a singer and songwriter it leaves a big gap if you aren’t performing and getting the audience’s reaction, so it’s been good to see what people like and has given me some inspiration for the music I’ll work on next.”
Tanita Tikaram is at Cadogan Hall on February 2 at 7.30pm. For tickets call 020 7730 4500 or go to www.cadoganhall.com .
