Geri Halliwell's latest physical transformation -- a shorter-haired, blonder, thinner version of her former red-headed, buxom self --has been the talk of the British tabloids.

Not to mention her rumoured dalliance with fellow pop star Robbie Williams, her recent vow of celibacy, sadness at losing her bountiful breasts, passing thoughts of lesbian conversion, eating disorder battles, and unfortunate passing of wind upon meeting one of her heroes, Shirley Bassey.

And that's just for starters.

"Obviously I can't help notice that I am featured in the press a lot but I try not to pick it up too much and get validation from it because a pat on the back is six inches away from a kick up the ass," says the outspoken Halliwell, 28, down the line recently from London.

"I have a love-hate relationship with the press. I don't mind them. There's some good journalists and some bad. And I don't think the bad ones are journalists. The ones that step over the mark are just lazy. It's like there's bad pop artists and there's good pop artists. There's Damien Hurst and there's Michaelangelo.

"I consider myself the Damien Hurst of the pop world. Some people, you either get it or you don't. It pushes your button. It's bright and colourful but there's deeper meaning underneath if you care and chose to look. Some of it is deep as puddle, some of it is a bottomless pit, like a well."

Halliwell is talking about the material on Scream If You Wanna Go Faster, her sophomore solo album in Canadian record stores today. It follows her 1999 solo debut, Schizophonic, which sold platinum in Canada (100,000 copies) and 2 million worldwide.

She's already got a No. 1 hit in England -- her fourth such solo achievement -- with Scream's first single, It's Raining Men. The song is a cover of the Weather Girls '80s disco classic co-written by Canadian Paul Schaffer.

"You know what I like about Canadians?" she says apropos of nothing. "You've got the optimism of Americans, and you've got the prestige a little bit more fine than the Brits but then you tell it how it is. There's no bulls---t."

Back to the single, which got a big boost when it was included on the soundtrack to the film hit, Bridget Jones's Diary.

"It's Raining Men was a bit of the red herring of the album 'cause it's the only one that I didn't write and it was like a last minute gift given to me by the makers of the movie," explains Halliwell, who adds both George Michael and Gabrielle were ahead of line of her to sing the frothy dance number.

"But I actually think that I worked very jolly hard on this last album and I didn't rush it at all and I feel very confident about writing pop music. I've been to the school of pop and back."

Halliwell is referring to, of course, the Spice Girls, who she abruptly left at the height of their success in May, 1998. The remaining four girls are all pursing solo careers now.

"I'm dead proud of them," says Halliwell. "It's like we were away at college together studying pop and now we're all doing our own thesis. I think it's like if you went to university with somebody or you went to Vietnam with somebody and you've got that kind of camaraderie that you survived and you endured something together and so when you see each other it's a delight.

"Occasionally you call each other, see how you're doing, but we don't see each other every day."

Despite her fetching new look, which Halliwell attributes to a disciplined workout routine, no dieting and avoiding sugar, she claims to be single despite reports linking her to Williams.

"Rob is like one of my best friends," she says. "We're like two six-year-old children. We're playmates, that's it. We play cards, backgammon, and we kind of playfight."

As for going blonde, Halliwell says she's not necessarily having more fun.

"The hair colour's just a dressing, it's a salad dressing. I've been every colour. I dyed my hair blonde when I was 12. I've experienced black, red and blonde."