"You pick up loads of baggage with your first record with reaction to it from fans and critics. So I went to Ireland by myself for a couple of weeks with my guitar. I read lots of poetry, I read Patti Smith's autobiography and started words and phrases and then songs started to take shape."

"I don't really have a style icon but I really admire the way people dress like Gaga, Rihanna and Gwen Stefani. It's good to be inspired by singers who write music and dress incredibly - rather than models and people in the fashion industry who dress immaculately anyway because it's their style."

"I start really missing London when I go away. I have a little flat, but very central. I live above a pub and you'd think it'd be a nightmare, but I like hearing the music and it's quite comforting."

"People always try to find my agenda, but I don't really have one. It's safe to say that I make pop, but I think that I'm doing important music, too. I've just always done what I wanted to do."

"The art of living is discovering that every failure is just a stepping stone to greatness."

"Before I settled on music, I wanted to be an archaeologist, an astronaut, all sorts of really diverse things."

"The essence of creativity is the belief that the silence between the notes creates the music."

"The essence of creativity is the belief that the silence between the notes creates the music."