Because You Loved Me – Celine Dion I was about nine years old when I first heard this song; it was on a Grammy-winner compilation CD my dad had, and I always skipped to it. I reconnected with it over the last couple of years. Production-wise, it sits in this weird ’90s-pop era and has lots of chimes. To me, it sounds like a warm bath.

Miss You Love – Silverchair This song is an underrated classic. I listened to it a lot in Montreal when I was making the record. I walked around the streets with my headphones on, which felt like a portal to my teenage self, who was a huge Silverchair fan. I put it on and I’m flooded with feelings.

Young Hearts Run Free – Candi Staton I think about this song a lot because it’s just genius. It’s encased in really joyful music, but lyrically it’s devastating. She’s saying, “It’s too late for me. My relationship is terrible and I didn’t get what I wanted. Young people, don’t become like me; be free.” That’s a beautiful perspective and is what I’m trying to achieve with music – to approach a very human situation from a slightly different angle, and make it nice to listen to.

Because It’s in the Music – Robyn One of my best friends, Nick, has been a diehard Robyn fan for a long time and told me to listen to her. I saw Robyn perform in 2019 and it was the best show I’ve ever seen. It genuinely changed me as a person and a performer. Robyn has helped me not take music too seriously, and made me think about performance as an art form. I put chimes on my record because of this and Celine’s song.

Hot On The Heels Of Love – Throbbing Gristle I referenced this one on my record. It’s early electronic music but still feels incredibly organic and earthy. As a singer-songwriter who comes from the folk world, it’s a challenge to add extra elements to music that aren’t just guitar, drums and bass guitar. Listening to this while making PRE PLEASURE enabled me to add more synths, drum machines and things that would usually make me think, “Oh no, I’m a folk person. I can’t add those elements.”

Linger – The Cranberries This song feels so connected to what being human feels like; melancholy but incredibly joyful at the same time. I listened to it a lot and thought it was exactly how I want music to sound. It’s rooted in culture and sounds very Irish while also sounding universal. It’s very tender. Tenderness is what I’m always trying to achieve.

Jazz Police – Leonard Cohen This is on the I’m Your Man album, which I never really listened to until I was living in an apartment that was a 10-minute walk from where Leonard Cohen once lived. I wrote quite a bit of my album on a keyboard that has built-in backing tracks that sound super-cheesy. My friend Tamra said that’s how Leonard wrote a lot of his later music.

Never Too Much – Luther Vandross During 2020 and 2021, this was my most-played song. I can’t fully describe it, but it’s very life affirming to me. The sentiment is beautiful, the production is super-fun, and Luther does risky vocal runs. Over the last couple of years, this was the song I put on when I was feeling overwhelmed by what was going on in the world. It helped me realise that music doesn’t have to be that complicated. It can just be a feeling.

This playlist comes straight from the pages of issue 110. To get your mitts on a copy, swing past the frankie shop, subscribe or visit one of our lovely stockists.