4Music

Since 2004, Cascada have sold over 20 million albums, won a World Music Award and, last year, went to No. 1 with Evacuate the Dancefloor. After touring the globe and supporting Britney Spears, Cascada are now back with a new single. Frontwoman Natalie tells us all about it and why the dance act has gone pop… 

So, you’re back with a new single called Pyromania… 

If you see the video, you’ll see it’s about the heat in someone. There’s a bit of a sexy undertone, I guess. The typical meaning is the love of fire and to be obsessed with it, but it’s a bit of word play. 

It sounds a lot poppier than what we’ve heard from you before. 

Since Evacuate the Dancefloor, we’ve gone in a slightly more pop direction. We’ve tried to combine it with our typical dance sound so I still see it as dance music. We’ve just brought it down a few bpm! I’m enjoying that as well. It’s refreshing to go in a different direction. It obviously opens a lot more doors. 

The Evacuate album had a lot of songs on there that were similar to the stuff we’ve done in the past, but we did mix it up with slightly slower, poppier tracks and we’re going to go in that direction a little while longer. I’m enjoying it! 

Your songs always have pretty hefty bass lines. Can you imagine ever slowing things down and doing a ballad? 

I personally would be a big fan of that but, to be able to do that, there are certain strategies and marketing behind it. You have to have a concept. If you’re a dance act, it’s difficult to then all of a sudden bring out a ballad. It shocked enough people that we brought out Evacuate after doing a song like Every Time We Touch. I think at the moment it might be too much to bring out a ballad, but I would personally be a big fan of that. I’d love to be able to grab a ballad from the album and perform it somewhere. Standing in front of the microphone and not move? For a singer, that’s just a great thing to do. 

Last year, you supported Britney on her Circus Tour in Berlin. How did you find opening for a pop princess? 

It was cool! It was one of those milestones you never forget. I didn’t meet her or anything. She’s obviously very private, which is understandable after all that she’s gone through and the scandals. It was a great stage, great lighting, though we didn’t get to use any of her props! But it was like, ‘Wow! We’re on Britney’s stage!’ It was definitely a cool experience. 

Evacuate the Dancefloor was a very successful single in the UK and also the US. What was it about that song do you think that clicked with people?

 I think if we knew then we’d go that way every time! I think that we definitely hit it on the head with the sound. I think it has a dark feel as well as being very dancey. It’s very catchy. What I find embarrassing is that sometimes I find myself singing it in my head! It’s a great song and it went down really well with the clubbers and the kids.

 The song kept Michael Jackson off the top spot. That’s quite an achievement, beating the King of Pop…

 La Roux and Michael Jackson were our competition. I’m the sort of the person who thinks it’s just not going to happen and I was really sad about Michael passing. That was really emotional for me, so I wasn’t even thinking about hitting No. 1. It’s a huge honour to be No. 1 in a place like the UK.

 What’s next for Cascada? 

We never have any particular plans. We spend all year touring different countries. I’m on a plane every two days. There will be a new album out someday. I couldn’t even say if it will be this year. 

Can we expect a follow-up single after Pyromania though? 

We’ve got one song under-wraps that I can’t tell you about! It goes in the direction of Pyromania and Evacuate. Its one of my favourite tracks and its really cool, and that will probably be our next single in a few months…

 The single Pyromania is out now.