#readdork22

It’s something that is very, very important to me because I know myself, if I hadn’t got into this, some people are charging like 400 quid a ticket or summat daft. I wouldn’t be able to afford that. It’s important that that's representative. And also, when you put your tickets at that price, you create a certain type of audience. It’s good to have everyone in the room, I think.

This is not me pointing fingers, but I don’t see enough of that in the industry to be fair.

As a songwriter, where I feel most comfortable - writing about these kinds of really normal things. It’s something that I’m definitely conscious of. It was a deliberate choice.

Sometimes when you go into these sessions with certain professional songwriters, they’re looking for singles, you know? And sometimes that comes across in the writing as well. If you want to have authenticity, and you want the music to have a soul to it, you can’t really be going in [wanting singles] because it kind of dumbs down the reason that you’re writing, and it becomes something else.

I was so particular about every specific sound, especially what I didn’t like. I was like, well, I’m just going to deviate from those sounds and go all-in on the guitars with as much authenticity, musically, as possible. It wasn’t until I heard the latest DMA’S album where they managed to use all these really interesting dance sounds, but in a very authentic, unique way. I think it gave me food for thought going into this album.

That was definitely the first moment where I had a song that I felt represented the ambition and the statement of intent. It’s got one of those big choruses, and I think my vocal shines off it. Out of everything on the album, it was pretty clear what the first thing was going to be.I think I would have struggled to pick another first track. It just felt so appropriate.

It’s got one of those big choruses, and I think my vocal shines off it. Out of everything on the album, it was pretty clear what the first thing was going to be.