Jess Glynne has said she has found “a new balance” during lockdown, after cancelling a string of dates last year due to exhaustion.
The pop star, 30, suffered a vocal haemorrhage, and doctors warned her she could damage her voice permanently if she did not take time off.
Glynne, whose chart-topping hits include Hold My Hand and I’ll Be There, said her diary had gone “crazy” and she had been put under “so much pressure”.
The north London-raised singer had recently finished supporting the Spice Girls on their reunion tour and was due to play across the UK through June until mid-July last year.
She told the PA news agency: “It’s been really great. It’s been such a nice chill period.
“Last year got a bit intense for me. My diary went so crazy and I was put under so much pressure. Physically, it really did get me.
“So it has been a really nice period for me to get back to myself and find a new balance, which has been really good.”
Glynne also suggested fans might have to wait for her third album, the follow-up to 2018’s number one Always In Between, as lockdown had not been a creative time for her.
The Grammy-winner added: “I have actually enjoyed having this time to do me, and just chill because I have been, I suppose, quite busy.
“I didn’t really do much writing. I did a few bits and pieces for myself but I like to be in a room with people.
“I built my little home and created space for me and my family.
“Over the lockdown period I wasn’t really super working hard. I was taking a moment.”
Glynne and electronic music duo Snakehips recently released Lie For You, which features Afrobeats singer Davido and US rapper A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie.
She wrote the track, which was mostly recorded remotely in lockdown, during sessions for her second album, but it did not fit with the record’s sound or concept.
Despite the project’s success, Glynne said she hoped remote working would not become the norm.
She told PA: “It’s always nice to know things can get done with people for example in America, with Davido and Boogie being on different continents.
“But for me to make music that I am really super involved in and proud of, I need to be in a space with people to create that. Remotely doing that isn’t a vibe.
“Finishing and putting things together at the end, maybe it will change a little, not necessarily having to be there and be so heavily involved.
“But for me the creative process is so important. I can’t imagine it changing too much.”
The anime-themed music video for Lie For You – created by Hound Content, director Nicholas Lam and animation studio Point Five Creations – is set in a dystopian authoritarian state and features the four artists involved in a battle with an evil corporation.