What exercise do you take? I love getting out of the city for a wintry walk – in an environment where the scale is completely different, where the tallest things aren't buildings that people have put up and you're dwarfed by nature, getting pushed around a bit by the wind and the rain.
How do you relax? I love to watch films, going out and watching bands, going out dancing. I like a DJ who plays James Brown and 70s classic disco.
How much sleep do you need? A lot. I'm not good at early mornings, so when I have to get up for planes I always feel really sad. When I was a kid we used to go to those family parties where the adults would be up and talking and the children would be asleep on the floor, so I've learnt to sleep wherever – planes, cars… I'll always catch up.
How much do you drink? I've got a take-it-or-leave-it attitude. Neither of my parents drank. When I was at university I worked in bars, and you see people coming in at the start of the night and it's a different person by two or three in the morning.
Attitude to smoking? It's kind of silly and really expensive and potentially could kill you. When you see people buying a 20-pack of fags and a lottery ticket, you just think that's a real misunderstanding of how probability works.
Are you happy? It's strange for me: because I had this bereavement [her husband died in March 2008], I have periods where I feel intense sadness and times where I find myself happy. I'm almost surprised by happiness – it's a new thing that's creeping back into my life after a long period of total barrenness.
Have you ever had therapy? No – because I've got really good friends who have been happy to sit and listen to me talk about the same things over and over, and talking has helped me make sense of it.
How do you feel about cosmetic surgery? I find this western idea that ageing is wrong really distasteful. You should be happy that you look 50, you look 60, you've got to 70 – it should be an achievement. Everyone's going to look older, and then guess what? We're all going to die. It's the thing nobody wants to talk about. There's something really wrong with using Botox: it stops you making facial expressions – people are so interested in how they appear that there's no intention of projecting how they feel.
The Sea is out on Virgin Records/Good Groove
