Mark Owen on the Take That songs he avoids playing

This Sunday, Mark Owen volition acceptable disconnected connected a solo circuit of the UK - the archetypal clip he's taken to the roadworthy without his Take That bandmates successful astir a decade.

The prima says his shows volition beryllium a "celebration of my full career" arsenic helium turns 50, looking backmost astatine his lad set beginnings, the hippy psychedelia of his solo debut album, and adjacent his "Tom Waits phase" successful 2013.

But determination are immoderate Take That songs he's frightened of putting connected the setlist.

"I couldn't play Sure, due to the fact that I'd person to bash the creation moves," helium laughs.

"It's the aforesaid happening with Pray. As soon arsenic I perceive Pray, my arms spell up to the side," helium says, involuntarily doing the choreography arsenic helium speaks.

"They travel together, the moves and the songs. So I couldn't bash them."

Owen is speaking backstage astatine July's Latitude Festival where, it's true, Sure and Pray are missing successful action.

If his show astatine Henham Park is thing to spell by, his header shows are much apt to see latter-day Take That classics similar Shine, Rule The World and These Days.

Not without coincidence, they're each songs wherever Owen has a penning credit. (In the band's aboriginal days, Gary Barlow was the self-imposed writer-in-chief, but they became much collaborative successful their 2nd incarnation.)

"There was a constituent successful my vocation wherever I thought, oh, I can't bash Take That songs [live]," helium says. "But then, erstwhile I deliberation astir it, I'm like, I can, due to the fact that I wrote connected them. It's each right."

Owen's circuit comes blistery connected the heels of his 5th solo album, Land Of Dreams, which past period became his highest-charting grounds to date, entering the UK Top 40 astatine fig five.

From the breezy, lovestruck stroll of Jenny to the smouldering fireworks of Rio, it's a sugar-coated emotion missive to the popular classics helium grew up on.

The prima says the medium was written aft the pandemic rekindled his passionateness for unrecorded music.

Owen moved to Los Angeles successful 2019, instantly aft Take That's Odyssey circuit - and conscionable successful clip for Covid to trap him successful a metropolis helium hardly knew.

"We turned up and past LA closed," helium recalls.

As beingness started to instrumentality to normal, helium booked a nighttime retired astatine LA's celebrated open-air amphitheatre, the Hollywood Bowl. Then another, and another, and another.

"I was going online, booking my tickets, getting successful the car, waiting extracurricular for two-and-a-half hours, getting my portion of pizza, sitting successful the audience. It was fab."

He adjacent ended up astatine the Coachella festival, wherever helium and girl Willow danced with Stormzy during rapper Dave's set.

"That was a item for her," helium grins. "But we saw arsenic overmuch arsenic we could... Maggie Rogers, Phoebe Bridgers, Billie Eilish, Harry Styles."

Becoming an assemblage subordinate for the archetypal clip successful 30 years was "really inspiring", the vocalist says.

"Just to spot the bits wherever everybody jumps up and down was fab. It made maine privation to get backmost up connected signifier again."

That's wherefore Land Of Dreams is built to beryllium played live. Magic's squealing guitar solo begs to beryllium heard astatine 110 decibels, portion You Only Want Me boasts a chorus that's stickier than a velcro jumpsuit.

The lyrics to the second initially look to beryllium astir the outgo of fame: "You lone privation maine for my bully looks."

But there's an ego-destroying pay-off that tin lone person been written by the begetter of teenage children.

"You lone privation maine erstwhile you privation a thrust home."

"That's the main bit, that's the reality!" Owen laughs. "What's that TikTok trend? What it could beryllium versus what it is. The imagination compared to the reality."

Owen wrote the opus towards the extremity of sessions for his album, envisioning it arsenic the cleanable set-opener.

"I wanted to person thing that forced maine to travel retired with jazz hands," helium says. "I couldn't look astatine my shoes and execute it. It made maine person to measurement forward."

Fans won't beryllium amazed that the musician, who was ever the delicate bosom of Take That, sometimes struggles to beryllium an extrovert.

It was, aft all, his cherubic vulnerability that made millions of girls swoon successful the 1990s. And his solo worldly has ever been much maudlin than Take That's uplifting pop, afloat of lyrics astir mislaid innocence, idiosyncratic inadequacies and, connected Four Minute Warning, the existent extremity of the world.

His caller grounds is nary different. Being Human is simply a loving portrayal of idiosyncratic (presumably his wife, Emma Ferguson) who "always makes it look truthful simple" portion helium struggles.

Rio adjacent mentions the outgo of surviving situation - thing the multi-millionaire doesn't person to contend with, but the motion is nice, each the same.

He hints astatine having adjacent darker, much idiosyncratic worldly that was discarded aft the pandemic.

"I wrote a batch of songs, astir of which you won't hear," helium says. "They're the songs I worked done to get to thing similar You Only Want Me.

"For wherever I was successful my life, I turned 50 this year, I wanted songs that felt truly affirmative and felt similar my beingness was moving forward.

"My thought process is, I've astir apt got 2 much albums successful me, maybe, if each goes well. Maybe different Take That grounds oregon two. But I'm astatine that signifier wherever I'm not looking up and going, 'Yeah, successful 20 years, I tin scope that point.'

"I privation to bash it present and bask it and truly spell for it. Not successful 5 years' time."

And portion Take That are presently connected hiatus, they volition look connected the metallic surface adjacent twelvemonth successful a philharmonic based connected their songs.

Greatest Days, which volition prima Aisling Bea, Jayde Adams and Amaka Okafor, among others, follows 5 champion friends who reunite 25 years aft having the nighttime of their lives astatine a lad set concert.

While the radical volition beryllium modelled connected Take That, the existent members lone marque a little cameo.

"We're the backdrop to the girls' lives, truthful we lone have, like, 2 scenes," Owen confirms.

"We went to Athens to movie our bits, past the adjacent time we went to Cannes to denote the movie's coming successful outpouring - and it was the aforesaid time Tom Cruise was there, truthful it was packed."

And erstwhile the movie is successful cinemas, Owen wants Take That to deed the roadworthy again... particularly if Emily Eavis, who runs a antithetic festival, puts successful a call.

"I would emotion for america arsenic a set to bash Glastonbury," helium beams. "I've been to Glasto arsenic a instrumentality possibly 4 times. I loved watching [Paul] McCartney this year. So it'd beryllium bully to spell backmost and harvester play and work.

"Maybe prosecute a caravan and past travel retired connected Sunday and bash a gig, past spell backmost location successful the caravan. Yeah, I'd emotion it."