Martin Kemp says making an album with his wife Shirlie has given them a "new child to look after" and has helped them both cope with empty nest syndrome.
The loved-up couple - who enjoyed success in their own rights with Spandau Ballet and Pepsi and Shirlie respectively - have teamed up for the first time for new LP 'In The Swing Of It' and the timing of it couldn't have been better for the pair now that their two kids, 26-year-old Capital Radio DJ Roman and Harley Moon, 30, have both left the family home.
Speaking exclusively to BANG Showbiz, Martin said: "I don't know if it strengthened our relationship. I think we were close, we had a strong relationship, we've been together for 38 years or something, but I think what's it done is just give us something new - a new child to look after. "Our kids have left home, we've both suffered from empty-nest syndrome, and I think this record is kind of like the baby that's come along later in life. A lot of people say, 'Why haven't you done it earlier?' I'm just really pleased we didn't do it earlier because we've saved it for now."
Martin - who has been married to Shirlie since 1988 - may have conquered the globe with Spandau Ballet but he insists making this record has been "one of the loveliest projects" he's ever been involved with.
The 58-year-old bassist said: "It's one of the loveliest projects that I've been on in all my life. I can't think of anything that's been nicer. Right from the conception of the idea through to recording it and working with Sony and bringing it out.
"Just being working with Shirlie has been my favourite experience of anything I've ever done. It's just lovely to walk out the house and not have to say to Shirlie, 'Well, I'll be back about 10 oclock tonight.' And 24 hours later you come home. It's just a lovely experience, and what's lovely as well is seeing Shirlie so excited about something where we're on a project and it's not just me talking about the project, its Shirlie as well. It's a two-way thing. She comes up with great ideas, she came up with the name of the album and she comes up with songs we should be doing, and it's lovely to bounce back off your best mate."
'In The Swing Of It' will be released on November 22, and the duo will be performing songs from the collection - which 'Nice Work If You Can Get It', 'Fly Me to the Moon' and 'Ain't That A Kick in the Head' - as part of Big Band Broadway at London's Royal Festival Hall on January 25.
