LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Attention Spice Girl fans: Sporty Spice is getting her turn at bat.

After the last few years sharing the spotlight with her colleagues, Sporty Spice -- aka Mel C, aka Melanie Chisholm -- has taken a break from the bubbly pop sensation to release her first solo album.

``Northern Star'' (Virgin), credited to Melanie C., comes 18 months after Ginger Spice, aka Geri Halliwell, caused an international incident by quitting the band. Halliwell went on to make a solo record, promote it heavily and watch it sink without a trace, at least in the United States.

Spice Girl detractors, and there are many who consider the group to be a portent of the Apocalypse, cheered. Backed by their nebulous ``Girl Power!'' slogan, Sporty, Posh, Scary, Baby and Ginger sold millions of records worldwide, but the Halliwell affair exposed fractures in the band. Chisholm's album is in the critics' sights now, but it stands a better chance of success.

First, Chisholm is considered the best singer in the band. Second, she collaborated with some of the hottest songwriters and producers in the business. And third, nobody would confuse it with the bubblegum pop of the Spice Girls, whose primary audience consists of preteens.

That was evident at Chisholm's recent show in Los Angeles, where 5-year-old girls found themselves jostling with grown men for prime space in front of the stage.

The New Punk Spice

A spiky-haired Chisholm, swapping trademark athletic gear for knee-length camouflage breeches and a Clash T-shirt, brewed up one of the oddest juxtapositions in rock 'n' roll history. After delighting the tykes with the annoyingly catchy Spice Girls hit ``Wannabe,'' she brought out former Sex Pistols guitarist Steve Jones to help her perform a plucky version of his group's 23-year-old punk anthem ``Anarchy in the U.K.''

Maybe the Apocalypse is indeed at hand.

But Chisholm, 25, is deadly serious about her new album, in which she digs deep into her psyche to produce some remarkably personal and poignant tunes.

``A lot's happened to me in the last few years, being with the Spice Girls,'' Chisholm told Reuters backstage a few hours before the L.A. gig. ``I had quite a lot that I wanted to express, so it was nice being able to do it this way.''

She remains committed to the Spice Girls, whose new album is due out next year, but she says of her day job: ``It's a completely different vibe. We're just having a laugh, it's more fun, it's not as personal.''

She loves the girls and the time they spend together. ``But if something did change, life's too short to do something you don't like doing.''

Liverpool-raised Chisholm, whose formative musical influences range from her mother's Motown record collection to 1980s pop duo Wham, cited Madonna's techno-oriented ``Ray of Light'' album and rock bands Garbage and Blur as major touchstones in the making of ``Northern Star.''

Recording the album in Los Angeles, which she told the audience was her ``second home,'' she hired such luminaries as Madonna's ``Ray of Light'' collaborator William Orbit and rap/metal mogul Rick Rubin. She wrote the lyrics and helped out on the melodies, but not being an instrumentalist she left that part to the experts.

Sporty Gets Personal

True to the Spice Girls ``Girl Power'' ethos, some of the songs are strident tunes of self-empowerment directed at errant lovers, such as opening track ``Go'' and ``Going Down.'' But she also touches on themes such as neediness, insecurity and her penchant for destructive relationships.

``It's like an emotional roller coaster. Everybody has down days. It's very 'Girl Power' to be able to admit that to people,'' she said.

She even gets a little political with ``If That Were Me,'' about a homeless person. She says she has always felt strongly about homelessness and has become more outraged about it now that she has just bought her first home.

``I'd like to get involved (in social issues), find out more, especially in England now because I pay a lot of tax and I want to know where that tax is going. I'm quite happy to pay that and help people less fortunate.''

But ask her for her views on European Monetary Union or British Prime Minister Tony Blair, and she'll deftly plead ignorance and a willingness to learn. The avowed socialist was brought up in an household where it was simply ``Tories are baddies and Labour are goodies.''

Would she at last agree that former Tory Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was forthright and had the courage of her convictions during her 11 years in office? Chisholm looks like a Holocaust survivor being asked to consider the virtues of the Nazis' uniforms.

``It's very, very difficult for me, being somebody from Liverpool, to have any respect for Margaret Thatcher whatsoever.'' Uh-oh.

A few hours later, Thatcher is far from Chisholm's mind as she performs an hourlong set for the fans. Their enthusiasm is especially gratifying since she's singing songs from an album that has not yet been released. Chisholm beams, her gold tooth catching the light.

``Well, well, well,'' she exclaims at one point. ``You lot are wicked! I like this, I do!''

The grown men and the young girls cheer. Who knew the Apocalypse could be such fun?