From her early days with Transvision Vamp, Wendy James has always been more than your average pop star.

She was the darling of the tabloids in the late Eighties and songs like Baby I Don’t Care were big hits but you always suspected there was more to Ms James than being the latest flavour of the month.

Wendy James (Picture: David Leigh Dodd)

And so it has proved for she has just released her 10th album, The Shape of History, and on Wednesday she will be performing some of the songs live at an in-store appearance at Preston’s Action Records.

“I think it expands on what I have done before as a songwriter but it doesn’t divert into any odd places,” she said. “My taste has always remained pretty consistent but with experience you can just expand on that palette.”

Wendy cites her debut solo album - Now Ain’t Time for Your Tears - as being the key moment in her career as a songwriter.

The album was famously written for her by Elvis Costello, supposedly within a week.

“After that album it became apparent to me that to continue to be the musician I thought I could be I absolutely had to start owning my own words and developing my own melodies,” she said. “That’s really where it all began.”

Racine number one was her first solo album, released in 2004, to feature songs she had written.

“When I listen back to that now, albeit the production is far more lo-fi, the songs are pretty evolved,” she said. “All that’s happened is that I have found a gang of musicians and engineers I often work with and there’s a shorthand there. I can make much bigger and more embroiled sounding records.

“I’ve always had an obstinate streak in me but with age I think that’s come out and I know not compromise on anything. In the early years I was not paying as much attention to the detail of work in the studio. I loved the whole external part of it, the performing and the touring.

“I wasn’t paying attention to the depth of the bass drum. Now I can be as obsessed as much about that as I can about the vocal treatment on a song.”

The Shape of History is very much a Wendy James album with its roots firmly in the late seventies New York punk scene.

“That era is my comfort zone,” she said. “Even though this album may be a little more refined in some ways, my rock and roll roots are pretty obvious. There are some dirty, grungy numbers but also some intimate, whimsical moments too.

“What ends up on a record is really a culmination of my personality.

“I don’t know what niche you can fit me into apart from I’ve been around for a while. But I have a sound that’s not like anyone else. The reason the fans remain s loyal and enthusiastic about getting the next record is that there is something in these songs they can relate to. It will never jus be another bit of product.

“It doesn’t get to you unless it has passed through my quality control ; it won’t leave the studio until I’m happy with it. I know a record is finished when I stop thinking about it.

“I do not tinker and I do not meddle but I will keep going until it’s right Once I feel it’s right, it’s in the can and done.”

For the in-store show, Wendy will be performing songs from each of her albums and also inviting fans to ask her questions.

“I’m going throw it open for a little light relief,” she laughed. “Who knows what I will be asked, it’s completely unscripted.

“But I also want to have a moment with the fans who have supported me for so long so I will I meet everyone and whatever they have got, I will sign or do a photo or just say hello. It’s a full evening but one I’m really looking forward to.”

Wendy James is at Action Records, Preston on Wednesday, November 6. Visit www.actionrecords.co.uk for tickets which include a copy of the album (viny or CD). The Shape of History is out now