I'm probably much more influenced by film-makers and painters than I am by other songwriters or poets.

Never settle for anything less than you want.

If you come at the record feeling really happy and optimistic, it can be incredibly beautiful and uplifting, and if you come at it in a bleak moment, it can feel like a very dark place to share. It's all down to the listener.

I think that most art is asking a question or is looking for something, looking for answers and that is what life seems to be about for most people.

I've always been very politically interested from a very young age and I hadn't felt that was something I could begin to bring into my songwriting because I hadn't felt I'd reached the stage, that I had the skill with language enough, yet, to do that.

I knew what I didn't want to do- that's always my starting point. The starting point is always that I don't want to repeat myself. Or I try my best not to, with varying degrees of success.

I decide immediately if I like a person and if I do, then I'm myself, and if I don't, then I give nothing.