Stacey Kent and Her Musicians, J-Night at York Theatre Royal, November 3

How will the gig differ from your previous one at York Theatre Royal in May 2002?

"We'll have a drummer instead of a guitarist in the line-up so the band sound is a little different. We're playing some new material, too. There are always new songs in the pad. Now that we've put the Boy Next Door tour to bed, we've been adding more songs than we did last year. It's nice to be looking ahead now a little. Of course, we'll be playing some songs from that album - people have emailed me in various requests, which is lovely! I'll try and put those in, of course!"

What are your recording plans?

"The Boy Next Door was a huge project for me, 250 dates around the world. Now I need to take a little time between projects. I am loving this period! This is the first time I have done this: taken so much time off between albums. I'm still touring constantly but instead of thinking about the next album, I'm just going out there and singing. I want and need to be in love with my next project as much as I was with Boy Next Door and for that to happen, I need time to savour what I've just been through and need to give myself room, artistically, to allow the next one to grow. The industry puts pressure on you to keep churning them out, especially if they sell successfully but that's not necessarily healthy for the artists."

Why are you drawn to romantic songs?

"Basically, life is tough. Tough in some way for everyone. Music can give us many things, speak to us on so many levels. One of the things that works well for me, that comes quite naturally to me, is to go somewhere that feels good. That feels positive. I love when people leave smiling, skipping a little. One of the things I hear so often from people after the show, is what a hard day, month, year they've had - and that they've put on my music to help them through that. That is very precious to me."

Are Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald a daunting prospect to match or an inspiration to make your own mark?

"They are very important in the history of jazz but for me personally, they were not the big influences. In terms of being daunting, to tell you the truth, no other singer is daunting to a singer. At least I don't think of it that way. I sing because I was born singing and am compelled to sing. It's what I do and my own life experiences will make me interpret a song and a story differently from every other singer who sings the same song. That's one of the things I love about this music. It is so personal; you take any song and make it your story."

Stacey Kent and Her Musicians, J-Night at York Theatre Royal, November 3, 7.30pm. Box office: 01904 623568.

Updated: 16:00 Thursday, October 28, 2004