S Club say new song celebrates their memories with late bandmate Paul Cattermole

S Club say their new single has become a “celebration of looking back” on the memories they had with bandmate Paul Cattermole, after his death earlier this year.

Earlier this year, the pop band announced a reunion tour to celebrate their 25th anniversary, but months later, in April, Cattermole died “unexpectedly” at the age of 46.

The group later rebranded from S Club 7 to a five-piece band named S Club, as Hannah Spearritt also decided not to join the tour after the loss of her bandmate.

On Wednesday, the reformed group – consisting of Rachel Stevens, Bradley McIntosh, Jo O’Meara, Jon Lee and Tina Barrett – released their first track together titled These Are The Days.

It was accompanied by a nostalgic music video which shows the group watching old clips of the original seven members singing and laughing with each other.

Speaking on Magic Radio on Thursday evening about the release, the group said they were “very happy” and found the support from fans “so touching”.

Lee admitted it was “really emotional” watching the video the first time after Cattermole’s death.

“But by that time we’d had a few months to come to terms with what had happened, so it’s become more of a celebration of looking back and celebrating the fact that we have all those memories on film with him,” he said.

“From the moment we met him till the last tour, pretty much, everything we’ve done together has been on film, so we’re really lucky and really grateful that we’ve got all those memories.”

McIntosh revealed that getting back into the studio was a “really strange” experience as the technology has progressed since they were first recording.

“The producer was actually in Canada so we did the session via Zoom – that was quite weird… we’re in the future now,” he joked.

The group are still planning on embarking on their UK and Ireland arena tour later this year which they said will be a “celebration of all the hits”.

The tour will open on October 12 at Manchester’s AO Arena before continuing to cities including London, Dublin, Glasgow, Newcastle and Liverpool.

The seven-piece pop group were originally created by former Spice Girls manager Simon Fuller in 1998 and produced hits including Reach, Don’t Stop Movin’ and their debut Bring It All Back.

They disbanded in 2003 but briefly got back together in 2014 to perform a medley of their best-known songs for the BBC Children In Need appeal.

During their five years together they produced four studio albums, including their debut S Club in 1999.

They cemented their fame after starring in their own BBC TV series Miami 7 and LA 7.