Sophie Ellis-Bextor thinks her next album will sound "like tequila".

Sophie Ellis-Bextor

Sophie Ellis-Bextor

The 'Murder on the Dancefloor' hitmaker recently started work on her sixth solo studio album and believes although it is in its early stages, the finished product will sound like the spirit because her songwriting has been inspired by South America where the liquor is popular.

She told BANG Showbiz: "I've been working on the album with Ed Harcourt who I worked on 'Wanderlust' with, and I think it's going to be quite different again.

"I've just got back from a trip to Mexico and Ed has been in Cuba recently so I think the record will sound quite South American. 'Wanderlust' was inspired by Eastern Europe, so if it were spirits, that was vodka, and this will be an album sounding like tequila."

However, the 35-year-old singer admitted fans may be disappointed if they expect new music soon, as she is planning on spending the rest of the year building up material for the collection.

She explained: "We've written about four songs so far, so it's still early days. With 'Wanderlust' it was very concise, and the songs we wrote were the ones on the album, but with this one I want to take my time a bit more and make it a bit more expansive. I want to be able to spend the rest of the year on this album and write lots more songs to make sure it's really good."

Sophie Ellis-Bextor is spearheading the latest campaign from Wrigley, 'The Chew O'clock Challenge', promoting the oral care benefits of chewing sugar-free gum, and encouraging parents to get their family chewing gum at 4pm after post-school snacks, when teeth are at risk from lingering foods.