Garbage frontwoman Shirley Manson has opened up as to why she abandoned her plans to launch a solo career.

The 45-year-old, who recently reunited with Butch Vig, Steve Marker and Duke Erikson to record fifth album, Not Your Kind Of People, told The Guardian that she originally had clear intentions of what sound she wanted to pursue following the band's self-imposed hiatus in 2005.

She said: "I wanted to make a quiet record. I was so tired of all the noise and the loops and the electronics and the guitars!"

However, the Scottish singer, who starred in Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles during the group's absence, said that her label had very different ideas as to what direction she should take:

“The record company said something really bizarre – they wanted me to be Annie Lennox for my generation. At which point, I thought: 'I'm fucked.' No disrespect to Annie Lennox, because she's amazing at what she does, but I have no interest in pursuing that kind of career at all.

“I got into my car and burst into tears. I thought: 'They're not gonna let me do what I want to do. So I may as well just give up.' So I did. I stopped making music. And I carried on with the TV show, because they wrote me into more and more episodes."