RUBY Paul’s new album has come as a surprise, not least to Ruby herself.

“This is album number three and albums number two and three have come in quick succession,” says the York singer-songwriter, introducing Forbidden Fruit, released this week on her own Jewelclick label.

“The new record has grown out of an association with acoustic guitarist Richard Lower, of the duo Cushla. I wasn’t intending to make a record; we were working on a live set to play together, so it started as a live demo, and hey presto, before we knew it, there was a fully fledged album. Some projects struggle and stagnate, but this one just gathered momentum effortlessly.”

Ruby’s starting point was the songs of Karen Carpenter.

“I’m always told I sound like her,” she says. “So I wanted to look back to the era of Karen Carpenter and jazz and bossa nova songs, the music of Burt Bacharach and Antonio Carlos Jobim,” says Ruby, whose album includes covers of Bacharach’s Close To You (a song always associated with The Carpenters) and I’ll Never Fall In Love Again.

“Then I brought a few more of my own songs to the table that fitted that remit and by that point we had more than half a dozen songs that sounded fantastic, and as there were too many for a demo already, I thought, ‘right, we’ll do a full album’.

“Now it’s a record that’s more reflective of my live sound than the very big sound we had on Velvet Glove.”

Ruby decided to make a stripped-back record.

“That focused my mind on the arrangements and the vocal sound, because there would be no overdubbing, simply one voice, one guitar,” she says.

“I recorded it with professional engineer Dave Clements, who’s saving up to convert his garden shed into his recording enterprise, so he’s without a studio at the moment, and the album ended up as a bedroom recording, but that’s quite appropriate as it’s a grassroots record.”

The title track, Forbidden Fruit, emerged last of all.

“I knew I wanted to write a ‘French’ song, like Edith Piaf or Madeleine Peyroux or Carla Bruni, something that would be sexy. I thought ‘French’ and ‘forbidden fruit’ came to my mind, and then it was written very quickly right at the end of making the album, and in terms of imagery it stood out as the best song.

“In the end, Richard and I rehearsed it for the first time on the Wednesday and recorded it the following morning while my daughter was at playgroup,” says Ruby.

Ruby closes the album with Soundtrack To My Life, and to explain that choice, she says: “For me, the ultimate purpose of singing is to share a secret with the listener. This is what I feel I have in common with Karen Carpenter and I wanted the final song on the album to sum that up.

“It’s a song about Karen and my perception of Karen, a singer who sang from the heart but not ostentatiously.”

Forbidden Fruit was launched in The Basement at City Screen two days ago and will be available from this week from Ruby’s website, rubypaul.com, music shops in York, and via I-tunes, Napster and CD Baby.

* Ruby Paul performs at the Light-Up in Princes Avenue, Hull, today at 5pm.