Rae Morris takes to the stage in Birmingham on Sunday

Her soulful voice was showcased on her debut album, Unguarded, which reached the top 10 of the charts.

The record was recorded in the summer of 2013 in Los Angeles with Ariel Rechtshaid, who has produced Haim and worked with Brandon Flowers and Madonna.

"It never felt like it was stop-start, but it did feel like a very slow, gradual incline. There was a buzzy thing that happened when I got signed, and it felt like a very exciting time. But I made the decision to go with a label that would take it slow.

"I remember speaking to Max Lousada," she says of the chairman/CEO of Warner Music UK. "He came to Blackpool, and we sat in this fish-and-chip shop called The Cottage. I was 18 at that point, and they came into my world, and they were the only label who said, 'you've got a lot of work to do, a lot to learn'. And that's what I loved about them – they didn't blow any smoke."

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Morris was strongly influenced by Karima Francis, who she saw on Later... With Jools Holland and who also hails from Blackpool. "I think I actually remember watching that and crying. I was thinking, 'that almost puts me under pressure. Because it has opened the world to me now 'cause I didn't think people from Blackpool could do things like that."

Morris is at The Institute, Birmingham on Sunday.