DESCRIBE YOUR CREATIVE PROCESS.

It's been a slightly different process in the last couple of years. I’ve spent less time in writing sessions and more in solitude, writing when I'm feeling especially inspired. I’ve collaborated with fewer people on this record as I feel like my most honest self when I'm locked away writing lyrics or melodies alone. I can explore without the fear of judgement. Saying that, I've worked with some incredible people and friends on the record and in shooting the videos, which has made the process of bringing this record together something of a dream! For a long time, I think I forgot how fun making music can be, and I'm finally relearning that.

you moved to London as a teenager to pursue music. tell us about that decision AND EXPERIENCE.

I was very sure of it. I can’t remember what point or moment spurred my decision, but I had a spontaneous need to leave and find out if I could pursue this in the real world. I wanted to be around people who wanted to do the same thing. Of course, it was always going to be a risk. Who knows if the risk has paid off just yet! I learnt that I'm far braver than I realised and that my fear of failing was heavily outweighed by my need to pursue this. London is an amazing place to be when you’re in music. It feels entirely embedded in music culture, so you’re never really done discovering yourself or new people.

you just released the visuals for ‘masochist’. HOW DID THAT COME TO LIFE? WHAT ROLE DO VISUALS PLAY IN YOUR WORLD?

Visuals are a massive part for me. It feels like the song is half finished if it doesn’t have some sort of visual to go with. I had this idea that I wanted to show the ‘Masochist’ as a pillar of strength and play off the idea of being both the hero and the villain. The sword was the perfect symbol for that, as it sort of encompasses both of those sentiments. Both the video and song only tell my side of the story, a story of revenge and self-destruction: ‘kill before being killed’. It never tells you whether the guy deserves it or not, so I sort of wanted to leave that one hanging. Revenge seems to be a recurring theme of mine. When I get in that zone, I like to mould myself into a character I imagine myself playing if I was in one of my favourite films, so it made sense to learn a new skill and do a little bit of sword play, as you do.

you also write for other artists. how does that compare to creating for yourself?

It is completely different. You almost have to separate yourself completely from what you would normally do. Recently, I was at a writing camp for an artist, and I asked her to give me some keywords that jumped into her head. I thought that was a nice way of getting into her brain without having to over-analyse her. I also like to think of myself as an empath so, if someone tells me about their life, I feel like I can slip into their shoes at that moment.