James Morrison admits he struggled to write music during difficult periods of his life.
The ‘You Give Me Something’ hitmaker admitted his daughter Ada-Rose being born prematurely in 2018 – which came after his father’s death a few years earlier – had an impact on his songwriting.
He told the Metro newspaper’s Guilty Pleasures column: “If I’ve got really stuff going on, it’s not like I can write a song that day and it’s going to help me.
“The love of music has always been there and, as soon as I stay away from my guitar or the singing for too long, it claws me back.
“It’s never gone but sometimes it’s turned down. Going through a lot of s*** with my youngest girl, and having to put my career on the back burner for a little bit, just allowed me to have perspective.”
The 37-year-old singer lost his dad a decade ago, and he admitted it might him reassess his priorities.
He said: “I was only on my second or third album at that point, and so all my career recognition that I thought was super-important to me, it turned out it wasn’t as important as my family.”
Now, James – who also has 13-year-old daughter Elsie with his wife Gill – is “in a good place” as he tries to strike a “balance”.
He added: “I’m still trying to get the balance right.
“The last few years, I’ve gone through some soul-searching and I’ve come out the other side feeling quite solid and grounded as an artist.”
Meanwhile, James – who has so far released five studio albums and has released a Greatest Hits compilation – recently admitted he had no idea how to look after his vocal health in the early days of his career, and revealed he “didn’t even drink water.”
He said: “I never used to do anything that was good for my voice at all. I didn’t even drink water! I was so naïve and learned how to sing in pubs, so smoking, drinking, loud talking and all that stuff was natural to me.”