Mick Hucknall breezes into the empty Club Shanghai bright as a button - and in a shiny suit to match - even though he has been out sampling the delights of Lan Kwai Fong the night before, or should we say, early that morning.
Those infamous red locks have been trimmed neatly and the blue eyes have a merry twinkle. He likes being in Asia, says the voice of Simply Red, not the least because of the food.
'I like the Eastern cultures and I have been having a marvellous time eating,' he adds with a satisfied chuckle. 'Asian food sits well in my stomach, and unlike other people I don't get indigestion or heartburn or anything like that.' And, he has put his money where his mouth is too, by making a second Asian promotional tour in a year.
Last year, it was to promote Life which spawned the hit single Fairground, and this trip is to promote Simply Red Greatest Hits. It is his vote of confidence for a growing Asian market.
'Western musicians are beginning to have confidence that they can achieve something over here,' he says. 'In Asia, many record companies have been formed in the past few years and they are doing well. In the past, all Asia had been well-known for was its bootlegging industry, but now there are all these booming new record companies.' Hucknall had been trying to include Hong Kong on his Life world tour last year but Hong Kong venues being as 'abundant' as they are, he could not get a booking to fit in his schedule. It will be a long wait before audiences get another chance because Simply Red does not plan to tour in the near future, Hucknall says.
At the moment he is busy working on his next two albums. Twins? 'No, not twin albums, definitely not. I don't believe in them. I'm about halfway through, but I'm just doing tracks. I'm going to record all of them and then decide what goes into which album,' he says.
