Leona Lewis interview: ‘I can’t fit my horse in the plane!’

It’s Christmas, war is over (or something), and Leona Lewis has decided to throw her hat into the festive ring with new album Christmas, with Love, which features classic yuletide tunes alongside three original tracks. Her recent X Factor performance of lead single One More Sleep, during which she was accompanied by several spandex-clad Santas, confirmed that Leona knows how to do Christmas Attitude-style, so I went to meet the singer, actress and renowned lover of horses for a catch-up.

Congratulations on the new album! We’ve been giving it heavy rotation at Attitude HQ. One More Sleep is so uptempo and catchy, it could definitely be a future classic.
It’s quite a familiar-sounding melody I feel and it has that nostalgic feeling, so I think with the Motown vibe to the production, it lends itself to be being played over the years.

Yeah, it does have a sort of timeless feel.
I try and aim for that in whatever I do, but especially with this record. When I did this record I thought, ‘There’s no way I’m gonna do a modern record, there’s no way that’ll work for me’. So we kind of went Motown with it and it worked so much better.

And the Christmas album is a bit of a diva rite of passage! We’ve had Mariah, Christina, now Leona…
It’s classic diva-dom!

How did this Christmas album come about exactly?
Well, I always wanted to do one, because around this time of year when I’m on tour I’ll always do Christmas songs and a lot of people wanted to hear them recorded. And Simon Cowell, who I worked with on this record, was keen on the idea. So we came together, I picked all these songs, and said I wanted to do the whole Motown theme. We kind of got off to a running start from there and just started recording.

Is Simon still quite involved in your career on a personal level?
Yeah, he’s my A&R man, which is what he was on my first record, and he helps with picking the songs on all of my records pretty much.

As well as covers of festive classics, the album features three original songs. When you were writing them, were you inspired by any particular Christmas song from the past?
Yeah, I love the feeling of Christmas (Baby Please Come Home). I love Darlene Love anyway and my mum would put it on even if it wasn’t Christmas, so I wouldn’t know it was a Christmas song, I’d just think it was a Motown song. I wanted a song like that, with that same kind of feeling.

So is the Motown vibe a one-off or is it a good indicator of where you could be headed on future records?
I’d definitely like to get a bit more soulful with my stuff – and maybe work with some old, classic guys and girls. I was thinking about working with [Cee Lo/Bruno Mars producers] The Smeezingtons at one point as well, they’re quite cool in that way. Hopefully on the next record I can experiment a bit more with that sound, but I’m not totally sure yet.

During your live performances of One More Sleep you’ve been showing off some Supremes-style dance moves…
Yeah, there’s been quite a lot of dancing going on, it’s so much fun! It’s so sophisticated and elegant and classic. I love it when I see The Supremes doing their thing or The Ronettes – I feel like a little girl watching them. But literally this morning I noticed I was smiling when I was performing, and I never smile when I sing! I was like, ‘This is crazy, I’m smiling AND I’m singing!’ I never do that because all my songs are so sad.

Well, it’s quite hard to smile during an emotive performance of Run or Bleeding Love.
Ha! Well yeah, exactly!

You wrote and recorded the album earlier this year – was it hard to get into the Christmas spirit?
Completely. I recorded it in Brighton during a heatwave – it was, like, the sunniest Brighton’s ever been. But I had fairy lights in the studio. I didn’t have a tree or tinsel or anything, but fairy lights are a good Christmas feature aren’t they?

Are you superstitious about not playing Christmas songs before Christmas though?
Oh no, stop! No not at all. Go for it, the more the better!

Are you a big Christmas lover? Does the Lewis family have any festive traditions?
Yeah! Well, when I was growing up I’d spend a lot of Christmases in Wales actually. These days I’m on the road a lot and away from home, so it’s nice to be able to come home and have some time off, see my mates, stuff like that. So in a way, Christmas is actually more special for me now than it has ever been.

You must be hard to buy presents for: I mean, what do you get an international pop star for Christmas? That’s a lot of pressure!
Nah, if you know me it’s not hard. Anything to do with horses, anything to do with animals and I’m pretty much happy. That’s the way forward for my family!

You’re a big animal lover, aren’t you?
Yeah, I’ve got a couple of dogs, I’ve got a horse, I’ve got a rabbit. And then I’ve also got a sanctuary which has over 200 animals and counting – there’s something new every day there! My dogs are usually with me, but obviously my horse can’t travel with me! Can’t fit him in the plane! He’s in LA.

What’s the worst Christmas present you’ve ever got?
Usually it’s something my aunt gets me, she’s so strange! She’ll get me make-up that’s not my colour, or she’ll get me stinky perfume, and just random, random stuff that I’d never use in a million years! I don’t know, I mean you’re a boy… but there’s this roll-on lip balm stuff that I used to get when I was like seven – she’ll still get me that. It’s actually Barbie roll-on lip balm. Literally, to her I haven’t grown up past seven years old. I’m just like ‘thanks!’.

Maybe you can be the new face of Barbie lip balm.
Haha exactly! Super shiny Barbie lip balm.

One of the biggest surprises on the album is your operatic rendition of Ave Maria. I was expecting a Beyoncé-esque version, but you’re in full-on opera mode. You’ve kept that talent well-hidden!
Yeah, a lot of people don’t know, but literally I always… I was going to be an opera singer in my mind. I trained in opera and I didn’t start singing contemporary music until a little bit later. I even had a manager at one point, I thought I was going to be Charlotte Church! It was good to be able to do that on this record because opera is still one of my passions.

Do you have to train? Can you still do that alongside the pop stuff?
Yeah, I still try. It is quite difficult to do both together but you can do it, yeah.

You should have kept it quiet and gone on Popstar to Operastar.
Yeah, and been like, ‘I’ve just learnt this today!’ Is that show still on?

I think it’s gone, you’ve missed your chance.
Dammit!

But would you ever make a classical album? Could you knock Katherine Jenkins off her perch?
Oh yeah definitely, for sure, I’d throw her off there! Haha… only joking! No, she’s amazing.

Who would win in a fight between you and Katherine Jenkins?
Oh, she’s Welsh isn’t she? The Welsh are quite hard but I’m from Hackney so… I feel like I’d win. It might be a close call though!

As well as the Christmas album, you’ve recently made your acting debut in the forthcoming movie Holiday!.
Yeah, it’s a musical romcom featuring all the big songs from the 80s: Girls Just Wanna Have Fun How Will I Know, The Power of Love. It’s just a mad film and it was so much fun. I lived in Italy and we were by the beach every day filming. I play this beachy girl who just floats around and then her best friend falls in love with the guy that her sister is going to marry. It’s a bit complicated but it’s a good story.

Did you get to record any solo tracks for the soundtrack?
Well, I’m part of an ensemble so there’s no solo stuff – there’s no one song that I did [all by myself], no.

Katy Brand is one of your co-stars in the film. Have you seen the parody of Bleeding Love that she did for her TV show?
Yeah, it was amazing! I enjoyed it, I was like, ‘Can you do that again for me in person?’. I was quite flattered: she got the hair and tan spot on. We did joke about that actually, and she was one of the cast members I got on with best. Obviously it was my first time on a film and she really helped me through it.

We loved your last album Glassheart – and obviously the track Glassheart was a massive fan favourite. Did you ever want to release it as a single or was it just a bit too ‘different’?
Yeah, it is a fan favourite. It is quite different and I called that album Glassheart because literally I’d gone through crazy, crazy times in a relationship and it was really at a point where I was quite fragile. It’s still one of my favourite songs, but I don’t think it would have worked to release it as a single, because although it’s one side of me it didn’t wholly represent me, and, I dunno, it didn’t feel right to release that. It’s the same with Outta My Head [from the Echo album]. I love it too but I don’t like releasing tracks that aren’t all ‘me’ and although that’s one side of me it wouldn’t have been right to put it out as a single.

My boyfriend is a bit of a pretentious indie kid but completely loves you and your voice. Is it nice that your talent is recognised even by people who wouldn’t normally listen to your genre of music?
It’s cool. I’d done a lot of stuff before I was on The X Factor – it’s not like I just rocked up there like, ‘Hello, I’ve never really sang for anyone before’. But I felt like after the show, some people were like, ‘Well, what’s she really got and what’s she really done?’ I kind of felt like I had a lot to prove. And I think I’ve been able to do that, and people have recognised that I’m someone who’s really worked on her craft. Definitely I feel that pressure to prove myself, so it’s really flattering that people who aren’t fans of the genre I do can still appreciate my art and what I do and my voice. It’s cool.

Christmas, with Love by Leona Lewis is out now.