SMOOTH Radio was delighted to catch up with Julian Lennon as he released his sixth studio album, Everything Changes, his first offering since 1998.

His debut album, released in 1984, was Valotte, which was well received, but Julian says he felt compromised with some of the decisions he ended up making on its follow-up.

"What I wanted didn't really come into the picture at all.

"The success that came with Valotte, especially in America, led to me doing a full-on world tour.

"That was a shock and a half, but then after having done that, I thought at least when I came off the road I would be able to relax a little bit and in start writing again.

"That was not the circumstance. It was literally a few weeks after that I was told I had to get back in the studio now as I was you are contractually obligated.

"So I just said I'm not ready, I don't have the material. It's the old adage that you have the whole of your life to write your first album, but the second one-10 minutes, and it really was that sort of scenario."

As well as singing, Julian also has a keen interest in photography and exhibited last year in New York.

Half-brother Sean Lennon, Yoko Ono and mother Cynthia Lennon all attended a private gallery opening to see Julian's work being unveiled.

Julian said, "I reached out to the extended family, so to speak, to see if they would join me at the first opening of my exhibition and I actually didn't know until the last minute that Sean and Yoko would be coming.

"Mum was there of course, and quite a few other old faces from the past, so it was a reunion of sorts.

"I was completely in shock, because I really didn't know what to expect.

"There were more nerves than I'd had for many many years, because obviously they were judging me on yet another creative level, so I was ready to completely beaten up over it, but the response I found was the opposite, which I couldn't have been happier with."

Scousewives

MOVE over, The Only Way Is Essex and Geordie Shore, it's Liverpool's time to shine in another reality show, Desperate Scousewives.

E4 has started filming the eight- part series, which will follow some of Liverpool's most glamorous women on a quest to find a husband. I can't see Eva Longoria and Teri Hatcher tuning in to see the scouse equivalent of Wisteria Lane.

Judge dread

IT seems everyone has a view on the X Factor judging panel and how it's shaping up this year. Ousted Welsh singer Sami Brookes reckons time's up for veteran judge Louis Walsh, and wants to see another new celebrity join the panel.

And Noel Gallagher, who has turned down a mentoring role on the programme has declared the show is "no good without Simon Cowell in it."