THE title of her new single says it all about pop star Louise. The former member of Eternal, who has forged her own solo career, has graced the cover of every fashion magazine, always crops up when lads' mags poll their top 100 babes, and still has a good reputation as a respected musician.

And her new single, Beautiful Inside, says it all about the girl from Essex.

Having just dropped her husband and Liverpool star Jamie Redknapp off for training, Louise spoke to me, while sitting in the back of her car on the way to work with her dog Winston.

Louise met her Jamie in Milan five years ago. Her band Eternal were supporting Take That on their European tour, and Jamie, along, with a few Liverpool team-mates, had been invited over to watch the show.

Louise and Jamie hit it off straight away and got married two years ago in Bermuda. Since then Louise has carved out a successful solo career which has seen her pervious two albums, Naked and Women In Me both going platinum.

Now, after almost a year off, she has released a third album, Elbow Beach, which is where she spent her honeymoon and celebrated her first wedding anniversary.

"We'd been married a year and we went back there for our anniversary and it made me realise that, although my year off had been great, I really wanted to make another album.

"It was a lovely place. Elbow Beach was the last place we went before flying home and I went straight into the studio to write the album."

Elbow Beach is also co-written by Louise, adding a more personal flavour.

"I think it's 100 times better than the last two albums - not that I like to put my last two albums down, because they have done very well, but I think this album is much stronger musically and, more importantly, it's much stronger lyrically.

"It's a lot more personal but, for me, I just wanted to make an album which was not only just a personal album.

"To be honest, I was sick and tired of singing the same old lyric about a girl falling out of love or being in love and I did not want to make another album like that.

"For me, being involved in an album was more of an achievement than anything else. In the pop industry a lot of albums are made without the artist having much of a say - but I didn't want that to happen.

"I wanted to be there from the start until the finish. Whether I'll make another album like that again, who knows? But I think it's an important part of your career to have done that."

As much as Louise and Jamie are a showbiz couple, the Redknapps lead a very unshowbiz life.

In the two years that Louise has had off, she's concentrated on her home, marriage and everything else that newlyweds enjoy.

"It's nice because I've got married, and rather than just come home and say 'Right, I'll see you later. I'm working now, and I'm only coming home three days a week at the most,' I was actually at home and able to build a life with Jamie.

"For me it was about getting a base and devoting time to to our marriage, which I wanted to do.

And their decision not to lead a Posh and Becks-style life wasn't a conscious one - it's just the way they are together.

"Jamie is much more of a private person than me, especially when it comes to the showbiz glamour so he tends to keep out of it all.

"He appreciates it when I have to go to an opening or a showbiz award ceremony or something but as much as it comes across as glamorous, in a certain way it's working.

"We never sat down and talked about it, and that is because we're both very similar in the way we think and I don't think we'd been drawn to one another type of relationship.

"I'll never say that I won't ever do a photo shoot with him, because one day the right thing might come along and we might be silly not to do it but, for me, there hasn't been a right time.

"I've never wanted to do a photo shoot at home. He plays football, I sing and when we shut the door at home that's it."

* Louise's new single Beautiful Inside is released this week and Elbow Beach is out now.