I think nowadays it doesn't really matter where we are physically located. We create our own culture around us to a large extent, whether it's what we're listening to, what we're watching, what we're reading - it can have very little to do with one's immediate cultural environment. We are in a global culture in that respect.

The public so often want to freeze the artist in a moment in time when they were at their peak, and they want the artist to revisit it over and over again as if it was something authentic.

I'm obsessed with books.

Sometimes a little compromise isn't a bad thing. You don't need to be precious about it.

It wasn't my natural inclination to get into writing protest songs.

Creating a decent pop song is a challenge - and occasionally, once in every decade - it's kind of fun to do that.

I knew that I had to find my own voice, both figuratively and literally.