Of course, Charlotte Hatherley fans will know that songwriting isn’t actually a new thing for her. She used to write songs for her first band, Night Nurse, whose recordings may soon see the light of day on the back of her solo success:
"Yeah, I was writing songs for Night Nurse when I was 16 and that was kind of my education for how to be a guitarist in a band. So yes, it’s funny because I wrote loads of songs up to when I was 20 and then I didn’t write for years - I just got sidetracked by being a p**shead in a rock band (laughs) and then I finally got my act together."
And, it turns out that in getting her "act together", she’s discovered a few things about herself:
"I think it’s something that I find interesting - when you write lyrics it just kind of comes out and you have a bit of perspective on the way you feel about things that you wouldn’t otherwise have. I’ve kind of realised that I’m a pretty optimistic person. I always thought I was quite a moody, depressive person but no, there are very optimistic sentiments on the album."
I resist the temptation to tell her that I used to think that she was "moody" too. Besides, with a new single in tow, stars like Graham Coxon lining up to tell her how much they like her music, and the US-friendly Meltdown soon to get a proper release State-side, those "optimistic sentiments" are probably very well-placed...
- Vik Bansal, 01/2005