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Asked recently if she was nervous about her shift from sophisticated electropop disco diva to the Ed Harcourt-assisted chamber pop sound of her forthcoming new album, Wanderlust, Sophie Ellis-Bextor said the following: "This is something which I really felt like I needed to do. I felt more excited than worried. And liberated." While that final word is a knife to the heart of anyone who's enjoyed a dance around to Murder On The Dancefloor or Me And My Imagination, the elegant, string-drenched opulence of new single Young Blood fits her like a glove. Opening with a delicate piano melody and brushed drums, it's a long way from the Xenomania-produced days of old, but there's a gorgeous pop melody at the heart of it, especially in the sweet sigh of the chorus. For the video – directed by long-term collaborator Sophie Muller and premiered here – we get to see Sophie marching about under a chilly-looking pier and sat indoors sporting a buttoned-up, Victorian-styled lace dress, at odds with the sequins and feather boas of her current stint on Strictly Come Dancing.
Wanderlust is out on 20 January.
