Dublin singer Imelda May says music helped her get over divorce

AS one of Ireland’s biggest musical exports, the songs come easily for Imelda May.

Performing live, recording in a studio, going on tour – these are all things the Dublin singer adores about the business.

“I love all that. Alongside recording, being on the road is my favourite part. The rest of it – the photoshoots, interviews and everything else – that isn’t my world,” admitted Imelda, 43.

Her new album, Life Love Flesh Blood, is the first since her 18-year marriage to fellow musician Darrel Higham ended.

Imelda describes the album as her most honest, and used songwriting as therapy for what she was going through in her personal life, but that doesn’t mean it’s a subject she wants to talk about endlessly.

“I always write what I feel,” she continued. “It can be quite cathartic, putting your whole soul into it.

“It’s like putting your thoughts in a diary, but that doesn’t mean you would start discussing it around the dinner table.

“Some of the interviews I do, the questions they ask can be quite awful.

“Most people are decent but some just shout ‘tell me about your marriage break-up’.

“That’s why I write – so I don’t have to talk about it.”

Imelda’s new album moves away from the rockabilly style that brought her fame and covers a wide variety of genres while still retaining a vintage sound.

“I just wrote and wrote and 28 songs came out.

“I hope the songwriting has changed, because I’m always trying to learn.

“After all, the more you live, the more you have to write about.

“A songwriter’s job is to write what someone else wants to write but can’t. A song should speak to someone when they need it.”

She worked with one of music’s legendary producers, T Bone Burnett, on the album.

“My manager asked who I would like to produce it and I said T Bone.

“I thought he would do a great job and he was brilliant. I love that velvety sound he gets.

“T Bone said I wasn’t ready for him before but I was ready now, which I thought was the coolest thing I’d heard anyone say.”

The album was recorded in just seven days in Los Angeles and features contributions from long-time supporters Jools Holland and Jeff Beck.

“I’m used to working fast,” she smiled. “In the early days, when I was broke, I had to do things quickly.

“Usually when you go in to record an album, you would rehearse with the band first.

“But this time I was working with T Bone’s band and once we were introduced we just started recording.

“We did 15 tracks in seven days. It all just flowed really well.”

Imelda has been performing live since she was 16, but it was only when she went solo 15 years ago that her career picked up.

“I was in other people’s bands but felt unfulfilled,” she admitted.

“I had always wanted to be a full-time musician but now that I was doing it, I realised it hadn’t been my goal.

“I was secretly writing songs for myself and decided to set up a band. I wish I had done it earlier, because that’s when things started to happen.”

Imelda’s big break came when she appeared on Later With Jools Holland and her career’s been on an upward trajectory ever since.

Life on the road is made more interesting thanks to her four-year-old daughter, Violet.

Imelda smiled: “I like to take her on the road as much as I can.

“As long as she’s happy, that’s the main thing.

“She’s been around the world and had great experiences, which I think is really good, and she’s tried all different types of food and loves planes.

“I remember when she was preparing for a nursery outing and she couldn’t understand why the other kids were getting so excited about going on a train.

“She’s so used to being on tour buses, trains and planes, but I explained to her that this would probably be the first time on a train for many of them.

“She didn’t believe me!”

Imelda May, Usher Hall, Edinburgh, Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, May 23-24