When Victoria Beckham appeared on the Radio 1 Breakfast Show recently to promote 'Headlines (Friendship Never Ends)' - the first Spice Girls single to feature the full, Gingery line-up in nine years - her sales patter was strangely subdued. "It's very typically Spice Girls," the fashion icon, tabloid staple and incorrigible self-publicist noted. "You can hear even before we start singing that it's a Spice Girls track." Not a single "amazing", "awesome" or, heaven forbid, "major" emerged from her permanently pouting puckers.

Those who never rated Posh's musical instincts might have to eat their words, because her positive-yet-realistic attitude is absolutely spot on. The Spice Girls' comeback single is as hip and modern as Jeremy Clarkson's dress sense: the simple drum loop could have been laid down while they were recording their debut album; the flamenco guitar riffs are pure 'Viva Forever'; and, nine years down the line, Mel C is still taking on all the money notes, adding some real oomph to the middle 8. 'Headlines' won't be the first tune you skip to on the Spice Girls' Greatest Hits album – or, in all honesty, the tenth – but, as its pretty, gently melodic chorus surges gracefully, the feeling that comes over you is unmistakable. Nostalgia's a funny old thing, isn't it?