Gabrielle: 'I’m just being true to my authentic self'

“I think you have to let go, it is what it is. I love putting out new music, and I love the opportunity for people to hear new music from me, so I’m just going with the flow. I get to tour and I’m doing loads of summer festivals then I do my own arena tour next year.

“I’m like, you know what? I’m here for the ride,” she chuckles.

The first single lifted from the album A Place in Your Heart was the ballad Sorry, about which Gabrielle says: “Without giving too much away, it’s about an apology that I wanted and never got, so I had to write it myself, basically. I’m saying to all of us out there who never got the apology we felt we deserved and I wrote it as this is how I wanted my apology to sound.”

The album was co-written with Ian Barter, with whom Gabrielle has formed a successful partnership since coming back from an 11-year hiatus. “I collaborated with him on the Under My Skin album (in 2018) and he was such a blast,” she says. “He’s amazing and he always gives me the most wonderful music and then it’s down to me. He’ll literally record me as soon as I get into the room. He starts playing pieces of music that he’s composed for me to hear and the moment I feel a vibe from it then I’m on it, he has to record me straight away because it’s the one.”

By coincidence, Barter, who is also a producer, engineer and musician, has worked with Paloma Faith, with whom Gabrielle will be sharing a stage with in Millennium Square, Leeds this weekend. “He’s got a really great background,” Gabrielle notes. “He worked with Amy (Whitehouse), he’s worked with Paloma and a few others, and I just felt really honoured to work with him because he’s amazing.”

She appreciates a collaborator who doesn’t try to impose their own ideas. “When I go with certain producers sometimes they will try to guess what I should write about or how I should write, and that’s not how I work,” she says. “This is how I’ve always written, and (Ian) just allowed me to be myself without imposing and in between we have a lot of laughs, so I feel I’m in my element when I’m working with him because it doesn’t feel like work. If you were to walk past the studio there’s too much fun going on in there, but there’s no such thing as too much fun. It’s incredible.”

Gabrielle feels the album represents “me as I’ve matured”, adding: “I’ve always written about my life but at this stage, it’s just who I am. I’m a mix of many different things. Musically I’m not just Gabrielle the soul girl, I’m Gabrielle the pop girl, Gabrielle the easy kind of rocky vibe, Gabrielle a bit of country, and all of those things if you add them together you’re looking for a result, and that’s me. I’m just being true to my authentic self. I think that over the years my writing on the albums that have come out have allowed me to be more me. I’ve matured but I’m having fun. I don’t want it to be like I’ve matured and I’m boring. I do have lots of fun, and that’s what it’s about for me.”

The song Good Enough is a duet with young Leicestershire singer-songwriter Mahalia. Gabrielle explains that they met when they both supported Adele at her British Summer Time show in Hyde Park. “She’s incredible,” she raves. “My song Good Enough fit perfect for her to sing on and I was really flattered and honoured that she was able to grace me with her wonderful presence and superior, phenomenal vocals.”

Thirty-one years on from her debut with the number one single Dreams, Gabrielle continues to see herself as a “conversational” singer. “I always feel I’m not really a ‘singer’ singer, anyone can sing a Gabrielle song,” she says. “I’ve always believed that because it’s not too hard to sing, my voice hasn’t got a ridiculously high range or anything, and people have jumped on board. I sing about things that over the years people have felt they could relate to.

“For me, I’m always amazed when people come to me or come to the shows and tell me how my songs have been the backdrop for their lives, but three decades on people want to come to the shows, rock out with me and have a lot of fun. This is my life and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”

A Place in Your Heart is out now. Gabrielle plays at Millennium Square, Leeds on Sunday July 7 with Paloma Faith. She will also perform at Hull Connexin Live on April 8, 2025 and Sheffield City Hall on April 9, 2025. https://www.gabrielle.co.uk/