Writing every song is a little journey. The first note has to lift you.

Over in the UK, the music press can be brutal. They can say wonderful things about you one week, and the next week, you're in the can.

I am not reclusive. I just have a private life.

I enjoyed the two years I was with Clannad. I enjoyed touring. We toured a lot in Europe.

Music is like a mirror in front of you. You're exposing everything, but surely that's better than suppressing.

A lot of people tend to think that because I need all this time on my own in the studio, that I need time on my own, period. And that's not really true.

We called the album 'Amarantine' to mean everlasting. Poets use the word to describe an everlasting flower and I loved the image of that.