After nearly twelve years away from solo music, Diana Vickers is back with her new single Ice Cream. Best known for her unforgettable X Factor run and chart-topping debut, she has since built a career spanning music, theatre, comedy and podcasting. With Ice Cream, she delivers a camp, queer-pop anthem that nods to her early hits while embracing a new era of playful freedom. To hear more about her comeback and what comes next, we caught up with Diana Vickers for an interview.
After nearly 12 years, you’re back with Ice Cream. What made now the right moment to return to solo music?
I performed at Mighty Hoopla a couple of years ago, and it really reignited this sort of fire in me where I wanted to sort of make music again, just absolutely love my LGBTQIA+ community and their reaction and response to me. I was like, wow, there is definitely a market, an audience here for me. And I do a lot of gay gigs at the moment. I’ve sort of been doing that circuit and just had a really, really great response. And I was like, well, I’m doing this circuit. I’d absolutely just love to do some new music as well. So, it’s definitely for the gays, theys and the girlies.
Your new single feels like a wink to your early hits but with a fresh, queer-pop energy. How did you shape its sound and vibe?
Yeah, I’m glad that you think it’s queer anthem. The minute I said hi, I’m back. Did you miss me? I was like, ok, this is gonna be camp and then ice cream came out. I’ve been listening to a lot of Kylie. I think Queen Kylie for me. I was just sort of listening to a lot of her and that. Yeah, that definitely inspired me a lot.
Fans have been calling for your comeback for years. How does it feel to finally give them the summer anthem they’ve been waiting for?
Yeah. I saw a meme that went viral recently and it was saying we don’t get a song of the summer this year because we’ve been bad and I saw that go and sort of circulate. I was like ohh wait but little do they know it feels really, really, really good. I was, like, super excited as well because I knew I was playing at Manchester Pride on the weekend of release and I was like, OK, it’s the week, the summer week of the defrosting of ice cream. I’m melted and I’m ready to serve.
From The X Factor to No.1 albums, theatre, podcasts and comedy — your career has been delightfully unpredictable. How do you keep reinventing yourself?
I think I just love doing it all. I really, really enjoy it. I just, I love acting and I’ve always wanted to be an actress, and I enjoy doing the theatre, doing the comedy. I love doing TV. I love musicals. I love it all and I obviously really love doing my podcast and creating that and doing my silly comedy songs. I just think it’s really incredible how we can, how we’re able to do these things. And I think we’re living in a world right now. We don’t need to be pigeonholed. I’m not really good at downtime. Either so I’m always just sort of thinking of what else there is to do, and I live off about four hours of sleep a night. So yeah, I’m always nothing’s ever really enough for me. I’m never fully satisfied. I’m always like, OK, what can I do next?
Your comedy duo Ki and Dee has built a cult following online. Has that playfulness influenced the way you approach music now?
Oh my gosh, yeah, Ki and Dee and the playfulness of that is definitely influenced me. It’s really brought me into this new era. I think, you know, I’m so cheeky on there. And I could show that really fun, silly side of me. And I don’t really take myself too seriously. And I brought that definitely into this era. You know, I do a podcast, and I talk a lot about sex and I, you know, find that quite liberating. I wanna liberate women. And yeah, I’m definitely in my era, in my 30s as well, where I’m feeling super self-confident in who I am. My body and my sexuality and my yeah, I feel like I’ve just like sort of stepped into my era and that definitely has been. A lot of it has stemmed from Ki and Dee and just being able to connect with fans through, you know my podcast and doing the silly songs that I do and I’m super grateful. It’s sort of like opening me up to that world and how amazing that you know, we get to go on our phones and on our Instagram and TikToks and be able to put things out there and people connect with it.
Gen Z are rediscovering you through TikTok while millennials see you as a nostalgic indie-pop icon. How do you navigate speaking to both audiences at once?
Gosh, I hadn’t even really thought about the whole Gen Z. I was in an interview the other day thinking, you know, millennials remember you, but then you got this whole little audience are gonna look at you. Like, I literally didn’t think about them. It’s quite overwhelming because obviously when I released music, or even when I was on when I released my first album, I didn’t even have Instagram or TikTok, and so even now doing the new formula with it all is really overwhelming. And I’m like, oh my God, am I doing it right and yeah, hopefully, they’ll connect with it. You know, it’s fun and pop and camp and playful. So, I’m really hoping that the millennials and the Gen Z love it and up for it.
You’ve worked with legends like Eg White and Cathy Dennis, and now with Dee Adams and James Earp. How do collaborators shape your artistic voice?
I just think in terms of collaborations, it’s just so important because it’s all about that chemistry. You know, I’ve worked with James and Dee before and we just feel so comfortable together and honestly, we wrote Ice Cream in no time. As soon as I heard that beat, I was like oh my God. And it just happened, and it was so quick, and we wrote it and it’s just magic. I think it’s just making sure that you’re in a room with people that you just feel super comfortable with and the chemistry’s just right. I don’t know what happens, it’s just this je ne sais quo. And it just brings out the best in you.
Looking ahead, what can we expect after Ice Cream — more singles, maybe a full album, or something completely unexpected?
I do have an absolute banger up my sleeve. I really wanted to come out with Ice Cream. I thought that was really camp and fun for the gays, theys and girlies, but I definitely have another banger. That’s an undeniable one in my eyes up my sleeve and I would love to get that out there. And then, yeah, let’s just see. I want to focus on my acting and other projects, and my dream would just sort of do a play, do a musical, do a TV show, do a movie and then bam, out of nowhere, queer banger for you all when you least expect it.
Diana Vickers’ new single “Ice Cream” is out now.