You’ve often declared your love of Oasis. Have you managed to get tickets? Bauhaus66
I just taped Never Mind the Buzzcocks in the UK wearing my Oasis T-shirt – and this was before they announced the reunion, so my love of Oasis is not trendy. It started when I was 17, with the first two albums. I feel like Noel Gallagher taught me to play guitar without him knowing, because I’d play along. My song Turn Off the Light has the same chords as Wonderwall. I’ve seen them in concert two or three times. One in Vancouver was so good I wrote a five-star review in my college newspaper. Liam and Noel got into a fight in the fifth song. They threw the microphones on the stage and the show was over, but them walking out made it extra special. I’ve driven past their childhood home in Burnage and I’d die to see the reunion tour.
Is it true that your song Maneater caused a studio fire? VerulamiumParkRanger
Yes. It was my first day working on [2006 album] Loose with [producers] Timbaland and Danja. We were in Miami. Timbaland said: “I made this beat for you” and played it super loud. Suddenly I smelled burning, there was all this smoke and a flame shot out of the speaker. Someone came to replace the speaker but it freaked us out: maybe we should put this song away till tomorrow. And we worked on a different song. It was a super weird start to Maneater, but a great start to the album. Recently when Kamala Harris started using Maneater, I put a comment on TikTok consisting of a plate with fork and knife. She’s eating! I was thrilled that she used my song.
When you released Loose it was criticised for presenting a suddenly hyper-sexualised version of yourself with songs/videos such as Promiscuous and Maneater. Was this something you felt pushed into or something you really wanted? Consumer
I don’t agree that it was hyper-sexualised, but I was very intentional with everything I did. I’m very involved in all my music videos and imagery and music, so no, I wasn’t pushed. We went to the studio and I just made what I was feeling. I think I’m one of the most dynamic artists ever. I’m going to say that out loud. I just think people are used to people being one-dimensional and I’m not. I never want to be boring, that’s for sure – well, sometimes I’m boring too! But you have to try different things.
You penned the beautiful 2006 song All Good Things (Come to an End) with Coldplay’s Chris Martin. Coldplay have been working hard on environmentally sustainable ways to release physical albums and tour; do you have any similarly green plans for 7? McScootikins
I haven’t approved any merch because I want to make sure it’s sustainable before I sell anything, but I’ve never really sold anything besides music. Merchandise on tour, yes, but never perfume or clothing. I’m not perfect, but at my core I do really care about the environment and I’ve never felt comfortable making a bunch of products to sell with my name on them. My music is unique enough. I love that there are younger artists talking about this stuff. Billie Eilish talks about it in every show. It’s valiant and courageous.
What were you thinking when you sang All Good Things (Come to an End)? Mr-Moderate
Chris Martin wrote that line. He came into the studio but had to leave after a couple of hours, so I went: “Why do all good jams come to an end?” He sang back: “All good things come to an end”, then the next day wrote the verses. When I sing I’m super-internalised and kinda tripping out. I like to make people feel they can join in with that. My dream is to sing it live with Chris or Coldplay. That would be so cool.
Onde Estás on your first album, Whoa, Nelly!, is a fado-infused gem sung in Portuguese. Any plans to release more fado songs or sing in Portuguese? JulioP84
My parents are Azorean, so I speak with an Azorean accent. I wrote that song when I was 17 and I first performed it with an acoustic guitar at my grandmother’s birthday party for my entire extended family. I haven’t really written a lot of Portuguese music since then, but it’s been calling me lately. I did a remix of my song Força with Ana Moura, who’s from Lisbon, and I’ve been talking to a lot of Brazilian and Portuguese artists. Fado uses a very traditional instrument called a guitarra, which you can hear on Scared of You on my first album. Fado is melancholy music. You live in this constant state of nostalgic longing … hyper melancholia. It’s basically Portuguese emo.
Will you ever release the unheard song Crowd Control? You mentioned you were working on an EP with Timbaland and Justin Timberlake … perhaps you could add it to that? Eick_121uk7
Some people are so into the idea of this song because it was with Justin Timberlake. I’d just finished Loose right before Justin started FutureSex/LoveSounds so we crossed paths in the studio and wrote a song called Crowd Control. I would love to dig it up. Timbaland has just been on the road with Missy Elliott but we’re always trying to work together and I do think we’ll all end up in the studio again together, so I must ask Timbaland where that song is.
How do you write your songs? MayaLopez
I turn the mic on and then it’s just whatever comes out of my mouth. Usually a lyric and melody comes together or sometimes I just mumble until a melody and rhythm emerges. It’s like a fusion of rapping and singing, but I always press record otherwise I forget what comes out. Sometimes I jam for hours and go back and pick bits or sometimes it comes in the first five minutes. There’s a song, All Comes Back, on 7 where Charlotte Day Wilson came in with a chorus and just sang it at the piano, but mostly to start writing I just open my mouth. I first did this when I was four years old, so maybe I haven’t learned any new tricks since.
What do you think of Four Tet’s Only Human with the sample of [Loose album track] Afraid? Andyouilknowme
Four Tet’s amazing and I wish it would come out officially. I think it wasn’t released because it samples a children’s choir, so it felt weird having a choir of kids re-sampled. It was a conscience thing, but maybe we can figure it out.
I loved your cover of Rush’s Time Stand Still. Why did you cover it? chaosmage
There was a film called Score: A Hockey Musical from 2010, which starred Olivia Newton-John and was written by a Canadian [Michael McGowan] and filmed in Canada. I acted in the movie and they wanted a song. Rush are obviously a huge Canadian band, so I suggested Time Stand Still. I fell in love with the song driving around and listening to it on the radio. They’re an iconic band that are really respected in Canada, so I was thrilled when they gave it their seal of approval.
• 7 is released via Mercury on 20 September
