Emeli Sandé has admitted she had massive doubts about her second album.
Emeli Sandé
The 29-year-old singer is finally preparing for the release of her new record, the follow-up to her 2012 debut 'Our Version of Events', but has admitted that the success of her first album and personal trauma - including a marriage split - left her worried.
She explained to The Sunday Times' Culture magazine: "For a long time, I couldn't imagine ever going there again. I wanted to sing, but I wanted to do that in a totally different way. If I was going to come back, I had to know I could be an artist and not a product. For me, it was an accident that it was so successful. How do you go from this awkward, shy person to being out there, trying to protect yourself, but giving enough to get the music across? It's such a strange balancing act.
"This time, I thought, if I can do it on my own terms, where I'm physically and psychologically healthy, then, all right, I'll do it."
Emeli admitted there was one particular incident in 2013, when she knew she had problems, after two fans sent her a note following a gig to say they were worried that she had lost a great deal of weight.
She explained: There were these two fans in the audience - they sent me a note, and it said, 'Are you OK? If you need to talk about anything, we're here.' I'd lost so much weight, I was not myself at all. I read it in the taxi home and just thought, 'Wow. Nobody around me has said this to me, and these two people who've come to the show can speak to me on that level.' And that's when I knew -- I have to rethink everything."
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