Gabrielle Aplin hit a point on tour in Japan in 2017 when she felt like calling it quits.
The 26-year-old singer shot to fame in 2012, when her cover of Frankie Goes To Hollywood’s ‘Power of Love’ for the John Lewis Christmas advert went to number one, and the ‘My Mistake’ singer has admitted having success so early on made her feel like she had to say yes to every tour and opportunity that came her way because that was all she knew.
The British singer/songwriter, who parted ways with major label Parlophone after the release of her second album ‘Light Up the Dark’, has recalled how "unhappy" she was when she toured the Asian country in support of her EP ‘Miss You’, which she released independently on her own label Never Fade Records, and how she realised it was time for her to start taking more "control" of her career.
Speaking exclusively to BANG Showbiz, she said: "I had success very quickly and it was just go, go, go, and I never stopped. "I thought that was fine until I then tried to go again.
"I released ‘Miss You’ [2016 EP] and I went to Japan and did a little tour there.
"That is when suddenly the way I was taught how to work didn’t work anymore.
"It was because I started when I was so young and I was told what to do and I took a schedule and I went along with it.
"That wasn’t working for me anymore and I wanted to have more control.
"It was having an affect on me where I was having a moment in Japan when I felt like, ‘I can’t do this, I am so unhappy and I don’t want to be unhappy about something that I know makes me happy.’
"So that was when I decided to get help and document what I was doing along the way.
"It was how it helped me through it as well."
Gabrielle’s latest single ‘Nothing Really Matters’ – a straight-up pop song – deals with mental health and documents the star’s "unravelling" of her mind after reaching a point where she no longer felt she could continue working with former label Parlophone due to the intense pressure she was under.
Gabrielle says having a partner who understands the industry in her Hudson Taylor musician boyfriend Alfie Hudson-Taylor makes life so much easier.
She said: "Absolutely. He’s away a lot as well so he totally gets it.
"I never have any worries."
Gabrielle Aplin almost called it quits after 2017 Japan tour
