NEVER ever did we think they would be back.

But much to every cargo-pant with tassles wearing teenager’s delight, one of the most popular British girl bands of the 90s is coming to Dorset to help every 90s fan dream come true.

No, not the The Spice Girls – although a reunion for them is also on the cards again, but the much cooler baker boy–cap wearing pop quartet All Saints.

This year has seen an impressive comeback for the girls that includes a date at the O2 Academy Bournemouth on October 10. It’s been a bit of a more understated comeback, but in true fashion, the four women have stuck true to their roots and loyal fanbase and brought out a killer comeback album.

And now, the band have been talking about just why the timing was so right to get back on the scene.

Sisters Nicole and Natalie Appleton, Melanie Blatt and Shaznay Lewis – who is also the group’s chief songwriter, are ready to start touring again after spending the last few months in the studio.

With multi-platinum albums and two Brit Awards, All Saints formed a gateway to the new millennium with sharply honed influences of soul, hip hop, disco and club electronica.

Their singles rocketed to number one five times and netted the band legions of fans around the globe.

The band is probably best known for the hits Never Ever, Lady Marmalade, Bootie Call and their massive selling cover of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Under the Bridge.

Internationally they made their name with the single Pure Shores, from the soundtrack of the Leonardo Di Caprio movie The Beach in 2000.

In February, they announced a comeback with the brand new single One Strike.

While the track didn’t set the charts on fire like in their 90s heyday, it was well-received by the All Saints loyal fanbase.

It was cool pop with a touch of hip hop attitude and blissful harmonies to rival the band’s heyday classics and a canny, charming reminder of everything huge swathes of the global pop audience loved about the band in the first place.

The track is a perceptible call to arms for anyone who experiences a single moment, perhaps a phone call or conversation, that changes your life completely.

The song is set against a lovelorn yet uplifting melody as Shaznay explains: “When I write, I just think about what’s on my mind.

“The lyrics came from somewhere very real.

“Nic was going through a lot of things at that time. That was at the forefront of my mind because it was the heaviest thing going on.”

The song was written as a direct response to the younger Appleton sister’s marriage dissolving to former Oasis front man Liam Gallagher.

“We spoke for hours and hours on the phone,” Nicole says.

“The first few times I heard it in my car I couldn’t stop crying because I could hear so clearly what it was about,” says Natalie.

The single was followed by their first album in a decade, Red Flag in April.

After the touring the UK in 2014, All Saints resolved to do something they never thought they would again, and wrote, recorded and produced the new record.

“We didn’t force ourselves into this situation,” says Natalie,

“It couldn’t have happened at a better time in all of our lives.

“I just missed being with the girls. It makes us happy. Listen, if you can work with your favourite people, then why not?

“I have such a good time and I spend more time laughing and having fun than I do working,” she added.

The album is one of the most honest works from band, as Melanie Blatt shares:

“Through the Red Flag we are very honest, it is quite open and an emotional album and it is my favourite album that we have done so far and I think fans will connect to it.”

All Saints first split up in 2001, then tried to get back together in 2006, eventually they admitted having thoughts of never reforming again, but have managed to keep it together now since 2013.

“We’re all grown-ups now and we got our lives in order where we can appreciate what we’ve got together and our friendship.

“We have only done this for the love of it, there is no need to get to number one, we just like to hang out, to perform and cheer our fans again,” adds Blatt.

Despite well-publicised bust-ups within the band in the past, Shaznay also confirms the fun of working together in the studio again: “The album could have been made a lot quicker if we’d spent less time joking around while making it.”

Fans can also hear them enjoying making music again, reminding you of something you had perhaps forgotten you missed quite so much.

Perhaps what is so special about the new record is how contemporary it sounds without ever losing the core essence of All Saints, forever wrapped up in the magical conflagration of their four voices.

This is what they do.

“Seriously,” says Shaznay.

“I got on such a roll writing and recording with the girls again, we’ve started getting material for the next album together already.

“This couldn’t feel any more right.”

n All Saints will be on tour performing at O2 Academy Bournemouth on October 10.