Ladyhawke thinks music labels have always “struggled” with her.
The 42-year-old singer – whose real name is Phillipa Brown – believes that labels have never really known “what to do with [her]”.
Reflecting on her journey in the music industry, she explained: “I think, as Ladyhawke, people never really have known where to put me.
“The labels struggled, and no one knew what to do with me.”
The singer was actually urged by labels to remain tight-lipped about her sexuality at the start of her career.
She told NME: “I remember right at the beginning of my career being told I wasn’t allowed to talk about my sexuality. ‘Don’t tell anyone you have a girlfriend’ was the advice I got given.
“I also got told ‘No one wants to see you walking down the street holding hands with a girl.’’ And I remember thinking, ‘I’m sure lots of people would, actually.”
Asked whether she was urged to hide her sexuality because labels wanted her to be desirable to men, Ladyhawke said: “I assume that’s what it is. I never asked. I just couldn’t.
“It’s something I’m still getting therapy for because it really messed me up, feeling like me-just-being-myself wasn’t enough, you know? I’m just so glad it’s different now.”
The music star has recently been diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Asked how it impacts on her life, she explained: “It’s not the [kind] that you always see portrayed in TV shows or films where you like, turn the light switch on or off and wash your hands a million times – it’s the cyclical thoughts.
“I get obsessed on something, and then the thought goes around, around, around, around, around, around in my head until I can’t function.”