By, Paul Lester
3 min read
ByPaul Lester, Paul Lester
If Jess Glynne sounds a little tired, it is hardly surprising. Quite apart from the fact that she is about to move into her first flat - a purchase made with the help, understandably, of her estate agent father - there is her busy touring and publicity schedule.
The Hampstead-born, Muswell Hill-raised singer has just returned from America, where she has been playing dates, and she has been performing live in the UK this week.
In a few days' time, she will find out which, if any, of the three Brit Award categories in which she has been nominated - British Female Solo Artist, British Breakthrough and British Single (for Hold My Hand) - she has won.
Factor in the promotion required to help sell her 2015 debut album, I Cry When I Laugh - which has sold 800,000 copies and entered the charts at number one - and you can forgive her for sounding weary, especially considering the pop-star-ungodly hour - 10am - of this interview.
"It's quite surreal, to be honest, but I'm so excited," she says of the impending Brits ceremony.
We all have our own torments, in our own ways
She is no stranger to awards. She was nominated last year for Brit, MTV, Mobo and BBC Music gongs and won a Grammy for her contribution to Clean Bandit's ubiquitous single Rather Be. But it would still be, as she puts it, "the cherry on the cake" to win a Brit.
She's up against Adele, Laura Marling, Florence & The Machine and the late Amy Winehouse in the British Female section. Would it be bitter-sweet to beat Winehouse, one of her heroines?
"Do you know what," she says. "I don't feel competitive at all. There is no side of me that's like, 'I really want to win!' Or if someone else wins I'll be p----- off. I don't feel like that.
"I really respect Amy, obviously, and I really respect Florence and Adele - I love them all. I'm not going to lie and say I wouldn't want to win - it would mean everything to me - but I'm not expecting to."
Director Asif Kapadia scooped a Grammy Award for Best Music Film as well as a Bafta for his controversial 2015 documentary on Winehouse, Amy. Was Glynne pleased? "Yeah, definitely. I think the film was really honest and came from the right place.
"I find it really sad," she adds, "because to this day I feel like she could have been here if she had the right people round her. But I appreciate everything she did and she will continue to inspire me."
Does the Amy documentary provide a lesson in what to avoid in the music industry? "I think so, yeah. She had an addictive personality and there is a sense of not following that path."
Glynne does not appear to have anything remotely resembling the same levels of torment as Winehouse. "I mean, we all have our own torments, in our own ways," she reflects. "But I've never been into drugs because I'm too much of a hypochondriac.
"I have had my issues with alcohol and my own personality, but never to that extent. I've always got a boundary. It's also so important to have such a strong family and team and such amazing friends. Having such a consistent structure around me really makes a difference."
In an article for the Evening Standard last year, Glynne briefly discussed a relationship that had faltered, with another woman. Were her parents surprised by her "coming out"?
"It wasn't me coming out," she corrects, politely. "It was me stating that I'd been in a relationship with a girl. I've been in a relationship with guys, and before my album was written I did break up with the girl I'd been in a relationship with. That was it, really. I was just being honest - that's what some of the songs on the album are about."
Meanwhile, at the Brits, the British Male Solo Artist category is equally strong, with nominations including Calvin Harris, James Bay, Jamie xx and Mark Ronson.
"Mark Ronson should win," ventures Glynne, immediately. "He's such a talent and such a lovely guy as well. I really want to work with him."
Jewish, too, of course. Does that matter? "It's always quite nice to know someone's Jewish," she considers.
"I'm the same as ever," she says of her Jewish lifestyle now that she's a successful pop star. "My family are not the most religious, but I respect who we are and celebrate the holidays."
Will she be getting a mezuzah for her new flat? "I might do, yeah," she says, yawning. Suddenly, she has an idea. "Why not? My great aunt has a really nice one. I might steal that."
