A CUT ABOVE

SCISSOR SISTERS STAR JAKE SHEARS TELLS MARION MCMULLEN WHY IT HAS TAKEN 20 YEARS TO CELEBRATE THE SUCCESS OF THEIR DEBUT ALBUM

- MARION MCMULLEN

THE release of Scissor Sisters' self-titled debut album made the world sit up and take notice.

It won three BRIT awards in 2005; is one of the UK's 40 best-sellers of all time; went nine times platinum, and has since been ranked as one of the all-time best-selling albums.

But singer Jake Shears says the group were so busy that they had no time to celebrate their success.

"At the time, when you are going through it, you are just working harder than you have ever worked and there was no respite from it," says the singer, 46.

"I don't think we took the time to celebrate it really. We just were huffing it. You tour for two years and you go home and you feel like there's going to be some ticker-tape parade or something outside your house ... and there's not.

"It can be really jarring. I think maybe these new shows are our celebration, finally."

The era-defining pop disrupters - known for songs such as I Can't Decide, I Don't Feel Like Dancin' and Take Your Mama - are reuniting for a huge arena tour marking the 20th anniversary of the album.