British pop-soul singer Mick Hucknall blames radio for his decision to break up Simply Red, the successful band that he has led for the past 25 years.

In a telephone interview with Life! from his home just outside of London, the red-haired songwriter says the split was 'inevitable'.

'I was starting to feel stylistically restricted, because I have a broad taste in music and I was starting to feel that I wasn't able to express that and that I was designing music to suit radio.

'That isn't the way to be creative. Radio expects a certain sound from Simply Red. It starts to be a bit like a straitjacket where you have to keep making records that sound like people expect you to and I just don't want to be in that trap. I want to get out.'

His chart-topping group, which has recorded 10 albums and sold 60 million records worldwide, will be performing at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on Sept 28. The gig is part of the group's lengthy farewell tour, which started last year and will last until the end of this year.

There have been plenty of tears from loyal fans at the sold-out shows in the tour, he notes.

'The last shows we did in South America, we played Brazil, Mexico and Argentina and they were quite emotional. Even here in the UK, we're not doing our final shows until December but it's like people almost can't believe it. But I want to move on, I want to do something different.'

Somewhat paradoxically, he adds that to move forward entails looking back to music created in the 1950s and 1960s.

'I've always had a love for the music of the 1950s and 1960s. I'm not going to copy them but I am going to try and use that as an influence to move my music forward.'

The 50-year-old is also currently doubling as the frontman for the recently reunited 1970s R&B/blues rockers Faces, taking the place of their original singer, veteran crooner Rod Stewart.

Emulating Stewart's vocals from the band's early recordings have been 'very, very challenging', he says.

'It's very demanding on the voice, I must say it's a complete different style of singing with what I do with Simply Red, because Rod, when he was in the early 1970s, was singing in a very, very high key. He sings in much lower keys when you see a Rod Stewart show now and I can understand why.'

Though Simply Red has not played in Singapore since 1996, Hucknall says that he always finds himself at Changi Airport during transits, and flips through The Straits Times whenever he is here.

'Goodness me, I'm sure Singapore has changed a lot since 1996, hasn't it? I'm quite looking forward to seeing the changes,' he says.

Fans can also expect to hear a set comprising mostly hits such as Money's Too Tight (To Mention), Something Got Me Started and Stars at their upcoming gig, he adds.

The recently married singer, who has a three-year-old daughter, admits that life has been good to him. His wife is Gabrielle Wesberry, a 39-year-old former art dealer.

'Now I have a family. I never had a family as a kid, I was just brought up by my father, so consequently this is something that I think of as very precious, something I never had and I treasure.

'And I feel very satisfied with the way I've conducted my career because it's been on my terms. I've never had a boss, which is something very unique in the world and is something that I'm immensely proud of.'