I was super brainy and a proper geek at school, but there would always be a boy. But that sort of obsession did turn me into a songwriter. My writing has always come from that feeling of infatuation.

I'm quite private. And I never wanted to be the biggest star in the world, really. So in that sense I've got a good balance of doing great shows, of making an appearance every now and then and writing music, and I don't really have to do much else.

If a hundred people want autographs, sometimes you have to say no because you've got to get up for a 4 A.M. flight or something. In that sense, it really pisses me off when people think you've become a diva. It's not becoming a diva, it's because of the situation, I think.

The nature of how we are as human beings is that we're much more interested in being critical rather than praising something.

Not much shocked me. You know, I worked in a home for Alzheimer's patients and my dad used to be really into murders and stuff, so I saw dead bodies. It desensitised me to a lot of things.

I got a random tattoo the other day. It's a red triangle, which makes everyone think I'm arty, which I'm not. I used to draw red triangles all the time. It must mean something - maybe I don't know it yet. But I'll figure it out.

I'm a bit of a like girly-girl, really, I like flowery stuff.

I love designer stuff but like it will only be like, on a whim. I love Alexander Wang so much, but it's expensive.

My hairdresser in the U.K., Adam Reed, has his own line, Percy and Reed, and it's really good. And I use Moroccan Oil and Kerastase as well.

Drake, I'd like to collaborate with. He's a phenomenal lyricist. Probably the best rapper in the world at the moment. I love Kanye but there's something about Drake; he's more straight up, really clever and really poetic and metaphorical - I love that. He's just clever.

Bjork, I'd love to do something with her. I'd love to do some sort of crazy orchestral choir thing with her.

I've got a song called 'Salt Skin' because when you run in the heat it evaporates and you've got salt crystals on your face. I love that, because it means you've worked really hard.

I'm not afraid, as a writer, of being emotional. I'm obsessed with human emotion, body parts, physicality.

My mum was too busy raising four of us to encourage my hopes. But I'm glad I had the upbringing I did. It made me a worrier and a thoughtful, curious person.

People always try to find my agenda, but I don't really have one. It's safe to say that I make pop, but I think that I'm doing important music, too. I've just always done what I wanted to do.

I'd like to look like Madonna when I'm her age. I also look at athletes and love their bodies. I've always wanted to be muscly, not skinny. A lot of women yo-yo around, but I'm always aware if I'm getting a bit out of shape. I never look at the scales but I can just tell. It goes on my tum and bum.

I'd call what I do pop music, but it's folky and electronic and it doesn't really sound like much else.

I don't think there was ever a moment when I was like, 'Yeah, I want to be a singer!' I guess it just happened. I performed a lot when I was younger and stuff, but I remember getting to the point where I thought I might have to get a normal job.

Since I met Starsmith, my producer, I really feel like I'm making music because we write it together and produce it together. I've got a proper involvement in the end product as opposed to just writing a song and finding someone else to produce it.

I record stuff all the time, like little vocal things. I write random things down... Sometimes I just get things stuck in my head and I record them, and that actually becomes a song quite a lot of the time.

I find male singers and what they sing about fascinating. It makes me realize how little we know about ourselves and how little I know about myself. It's interesting to see the male perspective.

I'd like a male to listen to my music and find it kind of fascinating, what a girl goes through when they get heartbroken or get sad or get hurt by something.

When I heard Bjork's debut, that was when I first realized that I could be a singer, even with my unusual voice.

Lauryn Hill is quite political and is very bold and isn't afraid of wearing her heart on her sleeve, and same with Bjork, except she is a little bit more kind of fragile.

I think all the covers I do have nice sentiments, particularly 'Your Song.' People write me very sweet messages about that song, though I'm sure there are people out there saying that I've ruined it too!

I'm really proud of 'Bright Lights' because I was still in the mind frame of my first album when I was putting it together, but next time I want to display something different. I don't want to be as young, immature and all about boys!

I never remember having a plan. All I could think about was how I was going to afford to get into college or where I was going to stay because I hated being at home. I didn't really have time to think about anything in the future. I didn't think about a career or anything. I went to uni, got a couple of jobs, so I sort of funded it myself.

You get to a certain age and you can't judge yourself on your dad or your parents.

I could always sing, from a really young age, but my voice was really weird. I used to make my mum turn up the radio every day in our house. She was well into music so I got that from her.

I couldn't really relate much to my younger sister, because she was born in 1992, and I was born in 1986. And then my older sister, we just didn't get on that much. Although we bonded over hating our stepdad.

I was the first person to go to university from my family.

I maintain that when I finally retire from my career in music, I will go and live back in Wales - when I am an old person, if I live to be an old person. The water I miss, and the air, there's something different about it. And I miss the simple life.

I'd hate it to become style over substance, I'd hate people to start putting me in a magazine article about my style. I don't like dressing up in something I'm not necessarily comfortable in just to make it more of a show. I want the power to come from what I sing about and how I sing.

I guess I started running when I was about 18 and... I feel like it assists my creativity a bit because it completely just flushes everything out.

My fancy dress costume of choice is... something 1920s or 30s, when there was still so much elegance and attention to detail. An excuse for ultimate dressing-up indulgence.

My guiltiest pleasure is... chocolates with strawberry cream and trashy television - 'Geordie Shore,' 'Katie,' etc.

One of the most powerful feelings in the world is after a really, really long run.

Mumford & Sons' music appeals to a lot of America. I'm really proud of them.

Because I've always been a runner I love to feel that my body is shining on the inside. I wear baggy clothes, so it's not as though I like showing it off. I just like to know I'm great on the inside.

Men are wary of me because they know, by listening to my music, that a relationship with me will be quite deep.

What people don't understand is that how you are as an artist depends on how you are emotionally.

I never thought that I could make a living out of my voice, to be completely honest. I thought that I could probably keep playing pubs. And it was exciting for me to get even just a pub gig in my town or country, when I went to university.

I still don't know if I can write songs. I don't think anyone ever knows if they can write songs.

I've changed the way I look a bit but not intentionally. I've cut my hair. I've got a bit of pink in it and lately I've become a bit monochrome, wearing a lot of black and white.

I instinctively dress a bit tougher because I've spent a lot of time in the U.S. and I realised there was a certain image projected of me here. I've always been an absolute rebel. When I was in my teen years I had piercings and wore all black.

I hadn't even released my first proper single when I started to feel the strain of attention. But I don't believe that it was the attention that was giving me panic attacks. I think it was everything in my life colliding at the same time. It really did get to a serious point where I couldn't even walk down the street without getting the pain.

You should constantly write because your writing is always evolving and progressing. It's really important to start writing young.

I feel more confident if my makeup looks good.

Breakups just hit you harder when you're younger. When I was a teenager, it felt like the most depressing thing in the world if a boy I was infatuated with didn't like me back!

I'm a bit grungy - I love wearing boots. But I also love putting on a beautiful white dress and jewels. I have those two alter-egos.