The Hour

Having forged a successful career as a radio and TV presenter, Mica Paris didn't need to return to making music. Yet 11 years on from the release of Black Angel, Paris returned to the studio to try and emulate the success of her first album So Good, which reached number six in the album charts in 1988.

The response for getting back behind the microphone has been phenomenal. Critics are queuing up to dub it the best work of Paris' career – which is no mean feat for a singer who has four previous albums, 17 singles and collaborations with Jools Holland, David Gilmour and Boy George under her belt.

But if the graft that went into making Born Again counted for something, the good press it has received is to be expected. Two years of hard work went into the album, after Paris overcame the initial self-inflicted pressure to prove that she still had what it takes.

“You spend two years trying to get the project right,” she explained. “I hadn't made an album in 10 years, so I went in the studio really nervous. There was a lot of pressure in my mind.

“I think the pressure was more me giving it to myself. I went in the studio and I really felt like I was 17 again when I made my first album. It had the same feelings, everything was the same.

“A few weeks of consistently writing turned into two years. After two years of just slogging it out, we came up with this amazing record.”

The title of Born Again sets itself up as a big statement. If it had flopped, Paris' renewal would have been entirely in vain. But she feels that her own demands for perfection bore fruit.

“I'm really naked on this record,” said Paris. “I did feel like it was a renewal. Because I had been away from it for so long, everything felt new again, like it was the first time. So I thought the album being called Born Again was perfect.

“My biggest ever album was my first album and that was 21 years ago. So I had a lot to live up to. So you've got the two things: 'can she still do it'; and 'can she make another record as good as that one'. So that was the pressure. But I had the mindset where I thought that I would just make sure the songs were great.”

Away from singing, Paris had forged a successful career in TV and radio. She had her own show on BBC Radio 2 – Soul Solutions – and was involved in numerous music documentaries for the station. She has also appeared on screen in various productions such as Come Dine With Me and The F Word.

But it was her appearance presenting on the BBC's What Not to Wear show hat inspired her to cast her net even further. Inspired by the women who appeared on the show and their lack of self-confidence, she even wrote a book, titled Beautiful Within: Finding Happiness and Confidence in Your Own Skin, which was published in 2008.

“We make music to try and make people feel better,” explained Paris. “This was just a different extension of the same thing.

“There are so many women out there who are mothers and wives who just give their whole selves to their family and neglect themselves. I just became passionate about it. I was like 'I've got to show these women that they need to take at least one day off in the week where they look after themselves'.

“Because you feel better. You have your nails done, your hair done and all that and you feel great. The show was more then dressing people up, it was a psychological thing too.”