2008 has been a very busy year for you, and success has bombarded you these past couple of months. You have won a lot of awards, and now you're back in America touring. How have you coped with all of the attention?

Everything is happening so fast that I haven't really had the chance to absorb anything. I take one day at a time, really. I think it'd be a bit silly if I get carried away because of everything that's happened. I'm enjoying it. Sometimes it's a bit difficult, but I wouldn't want to be doing anything else at all.

A lot of singers feel that they need to have a glamorous look when they make their American debut. You, on the other hand, have a down-to-earth vibe, which resists subscription to pre-defined molds. What industrial pressures have you faced along the way?

I didn't make music to become a sex symbol. I make music to inspire people and make a good record and be part of the music industry. To me, the image isn't part of music. Music is in your ears, not on your eyes. So, no, I never felt pressured. I knew people would ask me - especially here with the whole Hollywood thing - if I felt pressure to lose weight. I don't think it is important. I think it used to be more important, and I think there are aspects of it now where people will talk about what you look like, not what you're doing. I made a record. I don't want to be on the front cover of Playboy. I want to be on the front cover of Rolling Stone with my clothes on.

You have often described your music as "heartbroken soul." What's the spin on that?

19 is a breakup record. It's more pop than anything - more popular in commercial than contemporary - but the album is actually from my soul. It took a lot from me to write the album. Instead of going off and asking people to write songs for me, I kind of put my head down and tried my hardest to admit things to myself and to put it into songs. It's a heartbroken soul - it's a breakup record from the very bottom of my soul, as cheesy as that sounds.

When writing your songs, is there a particular process you undertake?

It varies. Sometimes I force myself and wake up and say "Today, I'm going to write songs." That never happens. If I try and make myself, nothing ever comes. Sometimes I come up with the melody first, or a lyric or a phrase or a chord. But it's usually at, like, 4:00 in the morning when I get up to use the toilet or get a glass of water that an idea comes and I have to sit down to pursue it.