I would never sit and write a song in front of anyone, because you're so vulnerable. I don't know at what point in the process that it becomes acceptable to pass them on. When a song wants to be written, it will be written. When it does come, I will very rarely go back and edit lyrics. I'm quite a rational human being, and the only part of my life that I can't rationalise, or can't make sense of, is how a song gets written or why.

I get up, go and get a coffee, and go do the crossword - I'm loyal to one particular paper, the 'Guardian' - and that's my idea of a perfect morning.

I definitely tell things at arm's length but that is conscious. No part of me wants everybody to know what's going on.

I feel sometimes that I'm in a constant state of being lost in translation, and I guess that why I write songs.

I think everybody who relates to music is kind of isolated. It's lonely. Everyone who uses the creative side of their brain is that much removed from reality. They are looking for answers wherever they can find them.

I love the way you can fall in love with a piece of literature; how words alone can get your heart doing that.

I know how ridiculous this sounds because of the job I do but I don't believe in romanticism and make-believe.