Katherine Jenkins re-signs record deal with Decca

20 January 2014, 15:34 | Updated: 21 January 2014, 11:56

Katherine Jenkins has signed a new record deal with the label that first signed her up, Decca records.

Jenkins claimed on Twitter that she is going "back to my roots", and posted a selfie (with  newly dark hair) to celebrate:

Going back to my roots... Musically! #NewRecordDeal #Announcement #Decca pic.twitter.com/v2vDP6JEKL

— Kath Jenkins (@KathJenkins) January 20, 2014

The Welsh mezzo-soprano and occasional Classic FM presenter told the Evening Standard at a press conference at The Ritz in London: "It feels not only very exciting but very special to be returning to Decca – a decade after they first signed me and to many of the people who helped launch my career."

Her next album with Decca (due in the Autumn and the first of three releases to come from the new deal) will be the tenth of her career and it comes ten years after she initially burst onto the music scene. Jenkins also confirmed that she will do a live concert tour to promote the album.

"It amazes me to think that this will be my 10th album and for this, it seems the perfect place to be going 'home' to," she added.

Hitting out at music snobbery in the classical music industry, she went on to comment: "There will always be a small number of critics who was to keep it to themselves and an elite, but I’ve always been of the opinion that classical music is for everybody and I want to make it as accessible as possible – I’m from a normal background."

Jenkins also spoke extensively on her opposition to the way women are shown in the music industry, claiming that she would never present a sexually provocative image of herself in the media: "I think that you need to know who you are, and that somehow comes with age and experience. People may try to change you but you have to try and stick to what you want to be. These images are going to be around for a very long time. You can’t pretend you're something that you’re not."

She continued, citing examples of her experience on photo shoots: "I've been on photo shoots where they've been 'OK, let's try something different for this shoot'. Sometimes it's fun to experiment but sometimes it's really not what you are. I think you've got to know in that scenario to say actually ‘I'm game for this but this is too far’. It's about knowing the boundaries."