Emeli Sande feels inspired by Disney movies.

Emeli Sande

Emeli Sande

The 32-year-old singer has revealed she developed her award-winning musical talents by watching Disney's 'The Little Mermaid' obsessively as a child.

She recalled: "When I was three or four, I would just play that movie and rewind it and play it and rewind it and play it. I think I learned how to sing from Ariel!"

And Emeli returned to her favourite Disney movies as she started writing new records for her third studio album.

She told the BBC: "When you see the way children gravitate towards 'Frozen' or 'The Little Mermaid' or even 'The Greatest Showman', it's clear there's a real longing for melody.

"I have to check myself sometimes because hip-hop has become the new pop, and melodies can get very 'one note'.

"Don't get me wrong, it's fun to write like that sometimes - but I had to go back and listen to Disney films and musicals and even classical music to remind myself of all the other things you can do.

"I really believe the more melody we have, the better."

Emeli worked on her latest album alongside a number of musicians in her newly-built recording studio.

And the 'Read All About It' hitmaker has likened her approach to joining a "big writing camp".

She said: "We'd start every day around two and talk rubbish for a few hours. Then people would cook - my speciality was vegan 'fake chicken nuggets' - and it all started to come together in the evening.

"The freedom and the camaraderie made it so special. It kind of had this wildness. And in the end we got 200 songs or something crazy like that."


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