SHAUN Ryder and Kermit's re-activated Black Grape were due to open their November tour at The Welly Club, in Beverley Road, Hull, but tomorrow's show has been moved to March 21 next year.

Nevertheless, we forge ahead with Ryder's typically lively interview anyway, in advance of Black Grape playing Wakefield's Warehouse 23 on Friday. "The only time I remember playing Hull was a terraced house, where you went through the front door and there was a top little nice bar in there," says Ryder, the 56-year-old Salford-born front man, best known for his Happy Mondays glories.

Black Grape returned to the recording studio after a 20-year hiatus to make Pop Voodoo, their third album, released in July last year. "We got an email from the guys who look after Black Grape in the States, who said, it's 20 years since Stupid Stupid Stupid came out...are you going to do anything to mark that anniversary, and my first thought was 'No', but then I thought, 'why not?'," says Ryder.

"I looked up Kermit; he was in good form. Last time we got together for a show in 2015, he'd almost died before that; he was on his last rites, but now he looks like he's 29. he's got a pig's valve in his head and he's fine.

"Then Paul Oakenfold asked us to a football song for a European football thing, so we knocked out a football song and decided to carry on, and knocked out a full album too, when we worked with Youth for the first time. He's got a formidable record as a producer, just hit after hit."

To a credits list embracing U2, The Verve, Primal Scream, Guns N’ Roses, Pink Floyd and Depeche Mode, Youth can now add Black Grape. "We had a few weeks out there, over in Spain, where he has a studio, and we were buzzing with the songs," says Ryder.

"One of the big differences between Happy Mondays and Black Grape is that it's a hell of a lot easier doing Black Grape. I do all the writing in the Mondays.With Black Grape, we write like that Alas Smith and Jones, where they sat head to head! We still have the 24-hour news on, and that's the way it's always been. We haven't changed out style; we're still following the same old paths."

Why is the album called Pop Voodoo? "Kermit has a lot to do with 'voodoo'. I've got God on my side and a team of guardian angels; he's got voodoo!" reasons Shaun.

He envisages dedicating much of the next 18 months to Black Grape, touring home and abroad. "But the Mondays are always on the cards...when we get back," he says. "The Mondays are playing better than ever; the sex and drugs days have gone; we're just concentrating on the music."

Just maybe, a new Happy Mondays album could be on the way, sparked by Ryder's enjoyment of working with Youth. "But it's not easy getting us together; one's in LA, one's in London, and one we don't even know where he is, but I say, 'd'you know what, we can use this time'."

Exit sex and drugs and meat, but not rock'n'roll, as Ryder is now a pescatarian, eating healthily. "I have been for two years now, after discovering all sorts of vegetables," he says. "My food is better than it's ever been, though I've got no thyroid, no testosterone and a bit of arthritis, but I'm still on my bike and walking Malcolm, the beagle. He looks like an angel, but he's a right bas....d!" Now that's more like the old Shaun.

Black Grape don't play The Welly, Hull, tomorrow (November 1). New date: March 21 2019. Tickets: hullboxoffice.com/events/black-grape-the-welly-hull. The Plug, Sheffield, date has moved too, to March 22.