My next record I really just want it to be a collection of great songs, classic songs in a way.

I'm always aware of mortality.

People always go on about sleaze, but I think it's only a small part of what I write about.

We just kind saw the images and knew the cliches, so to have the opportunity to go there and learn something about Russian music and about Russian people and to see things apart from being a tourist.

I've got so much I want to do, and not a lot of time to do it in. People say to me, "You really shouldn't do so many records", because it actually harms your career.

A lot of the early songs I wrote were about the experience of going to London and meeting rent boys and transvestites and drag queens. A lot of my early material is that: the wide-eyed adventures of a middle-class boy.

I'm often prone to self-doubt about everything I do.