After the break-up of her marriage, Jane McDonald's found solace in the emotive ballads of women singers, reports CHARLES HUTCHINSON.

JANE McDonald's rise was sudden and unexpected. The end of her marriage to her Danish manager, Henrik Brixen, 18 months ago, was even more so.

In her own words, her life fell apart as the Wakefield cabaret singer "rocked in the corner for days with my pyjamas on", devastated at his leaving after eight years.

The Cruise ship crooner from the BBC1 documentary series sought a harbour in the storm and, back home with her mother in Wakefield, she drew comfort from the songs of her earliest days.

"My mother ran a boarding house for some time at Eastmoor, Wakefield, and when I was a baby she used to put me in the lounge with the radio on. I was quite lucky as that's how I got my grounding in music and my love of music," says Jane, who will be recalling the songs of Dusty Springfield, Connie Francis, Shirley Bassey, Vikki Carr and Petula Clark in her concerts in Harrogate on Sunday and York on Tuesday.

"We still have the music on straightaway in the morning...Radio 4 is rather high class for me!" she says, laughing at herself. "I've just let myself down, haven't I?!"

In the aftermath of a broken marriage, Jane has found solace in the emotive ballads of women singers. Hence her new record You Belong To Me - released this week by her new label, Demon - is subtitled A Salute To The Great Ladies Of Song.

"This album has been created at a wonderful time in my life," she says in her album press statement. "I have embraced change so much in the last 18 months and feel like a new woman. This is the start of a new life for me. I feel so positive and optimistic."

That mood is reflected in her choice of material: an album of belters.

"It's a completely new set-up, a new sound. It's gone up a notch," Jane says. "I'm at a level where I'm happy in my skin. There aren't many acts that can just go out and belt out a song: it's an older woman syndrome...and I've got it!"

She hankers after the golden era of Bassey, Springfield and Carr. "That's when songs were played non-stop on the radio, and when stars were real stars, whereas now you've got two minutes and then you're out. To me, the best music is nostalgic."

Jane is pouring her soul into her music, with no distractions. "I don't really drink, I don't smoke and I'm a workaholic," she says. "When you're an older singer like me Jane is in her 40s and you've been through quite a lot in your life, I've reached a point where I've been through death and loss and complete love, and I've grown as an artist to the point where I can call on those experiences."

On the album, covers of the likes of Jo Stafford's You Belong To Me, Kitty Kallen's Little Things Mean A Lot and Shirley Bassey's Kiss Me, Honey, Honey, Kiss Me are complemented by Jane McDonald's World Of Song, four of her own compositions.

Among them is the autobiographical I See It In Your Eyes. "That song is about when I realised my marriage was over.

"Henrik and I were together for eight years, married for four, and I've no regrets about that. I'm glad he was in my life for that time, but when you look into someone's eyes, you can tell if they want to be there," Jane says.

Love is something you cannot control, she reckons, as she looks to the future.

"Love can creep up on you, that passion of thinking you can't live without someone, and I do think you can love more than one person in your life."

Is there a new love in Jane's life? "I'm dating, but I'm far too busy!"

Jane McDonald plays Harrogate International Centre, Sunday; Grand Opera House, York, Monday, both 8pm. Harrogate box office: 01423 537230. York box office: 0870 606 3590. Tickets: £15 to £20.

Updated: 15:13 Thursday, January 27, 2005