Sweat

Melanie C is here for a good time <i>and</i> a long time. Thirty years on from the moment the Spice Girls broke out with “Wannabe” in 1996, Melanie Chisholm unveiled her ninth album <i>Sweat</i>—a record fuelled by confidence and the healing, escapist power of the dance floor. <i>Sweat</i> was inspired, in part, by the pop star’s formative years in UK clubs in the ’90s—before anyone had even heard of Sporty Spice. But <i>Sweat</i> also feels like the end result of everything she’s achieved since that name became iconic. Sporty Spice is present and correct here, from this album’s cover—which features Melanie C looking strong, proud and still poised to take on the world—to its opening track, “Sweat”. It finds the pop star in workout mode, promising “I’ll make you sweat” as she samples Diana Ross’ 1981 track “Work That Body” (even if it doesn’t get you exercising, it <i>will</i> get you moving). And this album’s dance-floor-rooted sound is no doubt indebted to Melanie C’s more recent transition from pop star to premier DJ, especially on club-calling tracks “Drum Machine”, “Attitude” and “Pressure”. When she released her 2020 self-titled record, Melanie C told Apple Music she’d been looking to artists such as Robyn and Mark Ronson to add emotional weight to the album’s electronic palette. <i>Sweat</i> continues in that vein. There’s plenty of sad-banger energy (“Til It Breaks”, “Emotional Memory” and “Free to Love”, an instant festival crowd-pleaser) and softer balladry, on “One Track Mind” or the loved-up “Cashmere”. Robyn’s emotive electropop remained an inspiration, with Melanie C tapping up Robyn collaborator Klas Åhlund for “What Could Possibly Go Wrong?”. “Robyn is the GOAT when it comes to electropop and so many of us pop girlies will look to her for inspo,” said Melanie C, during an Apple Music 1 takeover. “Klas Åhlund is her long-term collaborator and was a co-writer and producer on <i>Sexistential</i>. The Scandi pop sound is faultless. He pushes boundaries constantly and that makes for really, really exciting music.” Whatever experiences she’s processing on the dance floor, <i>Sweat</i> is the sound of an artist in control—and doing exactly as she pleases. “I can be anyone I want to be,” declares the former Spice Girl on “Drum Machine”, while on “What Could Possibly Go Wrong?”, she affirms, “You know I’ve really done the work/I’ve earned my stripes…I’m gonna do what I like.” And, in one of the album’s most striking moments, she reveals the strength she’s built, over those 30 years, to get to this point. “I still believe in everything I do,” the singer-songwriter declares on “Undefeated Champion”. “After all the bullshit I’ve been through…You won’t stop me dancing, raising up my hands/I’m the undefeated champion.”