Corinne Bailey Rae was born and raised in Leeds, England. The eldest of three daughters, she studied classical violin at school, but any ambitions to take this to a higher level were quickly scotched when the aforementioned Zeppelin fixation took hold. At 15, Corinne, influenced by female-led, indie noiseniks like Veruca Salt and L7, started her own band, named Helen. After attracting considerable local attention, Helen was offered a deal by Roadrunner Records. All was going well – until the bassist got pregnant and the band imploded.

"Disappointed? I was gutted," Bailey Rae says now. "I had no idea what to do next."

She went off to Leeds University where she studied English literature and spent evenings working as a modern-day hatcheck girl at a nearby jazz club. Every now and then she was allowed to sing with the band, and from those evenings new ideas began to form. Thus her songwriting evolved from noisy indie fare to more soulful, solo terrain.

"I love classic songs because they are so pure and succinct,” she says. “That's what I try to do with my own songs. They are short and sweet, to the point. I like the idea of leaving people wanting more, not less, you know?"

Inspired as much by Björk and Massive Attack as, say, Jill Scott, she went into the studio and came up with her debut album. It is in Bailey Rae’s own words, "a little bit of everything: it's chilled out, acoustic, kooky, atmospheric and soulful.”

And if she writes about the staple of all great soul songs – love – then she does so with less emphasis on its pink fluffiness than its unwritten complexities and numerous challenges. "I'm interested in the things that no one ever tells you about in relationships, about how love works in terms of expectation versus reality," she says.