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Baker's Dozen

Soul Searching: Lisa Stansfield's Favourite Albums
John Freeman , April 3rd, 2014 06:51

With the release of her first album in ten years, Lisa Stansfield talks to John Freeman about 13 albums that each occupies a little piece of her heart.

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Tweet - Southern Hummingbird
There is one song on this album that is a huge favourite of mine. It's called 'Smoking Cigarettes' – in which she has split up with her boyfriend and she's really sad, so she just thinks "oh, fuck it – I'm going to start smoking again." So, she just smokes and cries and thinks about her boyfriend all the time. I just love the notion of the song as it is really cheeky and a lot of people will be able to relate to it.

I actually gave up smoking three years and I've not had a single cigarette since. I'm really proud of myself. And, honestly, my voice has changed – I have back the voice that I had when I was 25. I won't tell you how old I am but let's just say I'm very happy with my voice now.

I loved 'Smoking Cigarettes' when I first heard it. I tend to listen to an overall song first before really closely listening to the lyrics. Also, Tweet has a brilliant voice and that's what drew me in. A lot of this album is about various injustices caused my men, so it sounds very similar to someone else's music [laughs].