Are your Prince collaborations still on the record as you see it right now?
I don’t know. We’ve got a few of those. They might be on his album or mine; we’re debating what to do and where they’ll fit best. Either way, you will be hearing them.
Do you have any stories from working with him?
He’s just really great. He’s got a massive compound where he’s got like a 1,500-capacity venue, and then he’s got keyboards where every button is programmed to do something from his music. Like you press it and it [goes] “OWW!” And then he’s got a jazz/lounge area where there’s a live band situation going on. It was all a bit surreal.
You also worked with Ed Sheeran on “Us,” which you’ve been performing in concert lately. He’ll be in Chicago the day before your show. Have you considered asking him to stick around to perform with you?
Oh, he will? That’s genius. I’ll have to message him and see if he’s still there.
Why do you think you’re so drawn to collaboration?
I don’t know. On my first album I didn’t have that much collaboration. I think I’ve just met a lot of people along the way, and I’ve made a lot of friends with people I respect who I think are also great musicians.
Has it been difficult working on the second record knowing there’s an audience out there this time around?
A little bit, actually. I’m just trying to talk about things that mean something to me. I have one song on my album called “Kosovo,” for example, which is where I was born [the musician’s parents then moved to London before her first birthday]. I just tried to do what I thought represented me.
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