She’s back from the States with a solo album and an open mind about a reboot with her bandmates. But she might need to build some bridges with Cheryl, Nicola and Kimberley first, writes Nick Levine
During our hour-long interview, Nadine Coyle shows me a picture of a T-shirt a fan’s just tweeted to her. He’s had it made especially for her upcoming gig at London club G-A-Y. On the front is a photo of Girls Aloud and the tweet Coyle posted in March 2013, right after the group announced their separation. ‘You should know by now I had no part in any of this split business. I couldn’t stop them. I had the best time & want to keep going. Xxxx.’ Nadine shoots me a look, equal parts bemused and amused, that seems to say, ‘Fans, what are they like?’
Having reconnected with Girls Aloud’s producer and founder of Xenomania, Brian Higgins, Nadine has just released her first solo single since the group’s demise. Go To Work is a motivational pop song on which her voice, always the group’s best, sounds super-gutsy. ‘This song is a good bridge between Girls Aloud and some of the more “out there” songs I’ve recorded,’ she explains. ‘I’m reintroducing myself, and I don’t want to do it by smacking people round the face with some massive song that I’m just singing the hell out of.’
Since Girls Aloud ended, Nadine has moved back to London after nine years in LA. ‘I grew up in Northern Ireland where it was freezing. Having 26 degrees every day is great for a holiday but, after a while, it didn’t feel like my life,’ she says, her thick Derry accent gloriously unaffected by California. Nadine and her partner, former American football player Jason Bell, have also welcomed a daughter, Anaíya, who’s now three. ‘She thinks my job is so much fun,’ says Nadine proudly. ‘I might have to go away with work for a few days, but when I come back it feels like I actually get more time with her. So I feel very fortunate I can do that.’
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