I have a lot of new songs partially written for my next album and just finished 'Cry it Out' today and have laid down the drum track. Next up is to work on the music next week so I am back in the studio on Monday. The next album is not out until late this year and I have time to record it but I would rather record when I feel like it and have the ideas strong in my head so I can do my best work. It must be hard for artists when they have the mega-buck record deal (that I want too of course!) and have to make albums to order. I know I will always have at least 12 of my best songs a year ready to put on an album but I never know exactly when. Sometimes I have a jewel of an idea in my sleep, or three together, and then nothing for weeks. I cannot easily write to order, they come to me when I am not expecting them and the other day when I sat down with my guitar to work on an idea I had I found myself drifting back into trying to write, rather than just letting melodies come to me wherever I am and then grabbing my voice recorder to hum them down, which is what happened on every track on 'Valid'. Trying to write songs with the guitar again did not work and I found myself brain tired and falling asleep on my bed from it, it is no longer the right way for me to write and I know that now. I also found I was writing melodies to follow the chords I wanted to play, rather than having the tune and then finding the chords afterwards on the piano. I have learned so much in the past two years and know I am doing my best work ever and my songs are improving all the time. I am my biggest critic and you would have to have heard an early punk song I wrote with my brother years ago called ‘Santa Clause and the Hindu Servant’ to know how much I have improved!

I found some great singing and vocal warms ups online so I am working on my voice every day a lot more now and think I will be singing better on my next album. I have a deep voice so as I said before I will never be falsetto-ing or doing the 'soul' warble X-factor voice (which I love from those who still have an original voice, not the Beyonce/Diva imitators). Amy Winehouse was unique, there will be few others like her and I like the fact she didn't care what people thought about her unique voice and was true to what she felt. It was a big lesson to me to stick to what I have and not care that a lot of people may hate me and think I am weird doing any of this.