Emeli Sande lived like a "hermit" before making her comeback.
The 29-year-old singer-songwriter enjoyed incredible success with her debut album ‘Our Version of Events’, but subsequently made a conscious decision to leave the spotlight before writing her new record ‘Long Live the Angels’, which is due out in November.
She said: "It sounds a bit dramatic but I just wanted to disappear. I just had this overwhelming sensation and the realisation everything had to stop. And then, slowly, it did.
"The label let me go and be a hermit for three years and trusted me to put together music that was important for me. I felt I had to slow everything down.
"I wanted stuff to write about and I wanted to really experience things on a deep level.
"I wanted to go back to the way I made the first album, not thinking about any anticipation, just focusing on if this is good music or not."
Emeli revealed her sister was a major influence behind her decision to return to making music.
She told the Daily Mirror newspaper: "It definitely got to a point where the label were like, ‘Maybe someone should have a chat’.
"But it was when my sister was like, ‘You know what, you need to put out this album’ – that’s when I knew it was time to get on with it."
Emeli – who divorced her husband Adam Gouraguine after a year of marriage – said that her soon-to-be-released new album will touch on some of her personal troubles over the last few years.
She shared: "I feel like this album is a diary. I was always writing.
"It’s very raw, very emotional. It’s a very soulful album. I’ve been 100 percent honest on this album. Everything is out there.
"If you want to get to know me, then you will with this album."
Emeli Sande lived like a ‘hermit’
