SKUNK Anansie are back on home soil, following a sold-out European tour, and the band’s front woman is not afraid to say what gets under her skin.

Deborah Dyer, better known as Skin, has been part of the music scene since 1994 when the band formed, releasing three albums — Paranoid & Sunburnt, Stoosh and Post Orgasmic Chill — which sold more than four million copies worldwide.

The band split in 2001 before getting back together in 2009 and, in November that year their greatest hits album, Smashes and Trashes, was released.

The 45-year-old, who is playing to Manchester Academy 1 next Friday, said: “We had a break because the chemistry in the band faded.

“We came back together because the chemistry was just there.

“We had to do the greatest hits because of our contract.”

They released their fifth album Wonderlustre, in 2010, with Black Traffic coming out in September last year.

Skin said: “For me, it’s our best. I really love Black Traffic. I think there’s lots of really great songs on there, it’s a very powerful album. Topics that have happened to our families and friends, in terms of politics.

“The only bad review was the NME one. It said we were too old to be in a rock band.

“The thing about it is, you do something that you love.”

She said as long as you are doing what you love well then it doesn’t matter if someone said that once you get to 50, you are too old to write.

“He will look back at that review in 20 years’ time and think that’s absolutely stupid,” she added.

“Ageism is ridiculous. It’s probably the most ridiculous review I’ve read in my life.”

And it is not just ageism that riles the singer.

She also dislikes “this whole idea that females have to be young and blonde”.

Skin said: “There’s lots of space for young, blonde, sexy girls to be in rock bands, but then there’s room for Adele and Grace Jones.

“Amy Winehouse, until she died. The girl from Paramore.

“I’m really happy that we’re still here, doing really well. I love what I’m doing.”

In recent years, she has tied the knot with her girlfriend, with whom she has a 10-year-old stepdaughter. And she is also a DJ, playing clubs on the house music scene around Europe.

Looking to the year ahead, Skin said: “We have got a massive festival season.

“They’re really good fun. There’s all the bands playing and the point is to be the best band of the day.

“We’re going to be headlining a few as well.

“Festivals are a real challenge because they’re not your own show. Some of the European ones are really crazy.”

n Skunk Anansie will be at Manchester Academy 1, Oxford Road, on Friday, March 22. Tickets are on sale via skunkanansie.net.