The singer said she listened to the likes of Beethoven, Bach, Handel, Arvo Part and Gorecki while writing the songs, after Nick Cave guitarist Mick Harvey sent her a host of compilation tapes.

"I've never used this voice before," she said. "I call it my 'church voice' because it's the one I would use when I went to church with my gran once a year to sing Christmas carols."

Harvey also revealed that, prior to recording the album, she spent the best part of a year in LA playing bass in a group run by Morris Tepper, formerly a member of the last incarnation of Captain Beefheart's Magic Band.

"It was fantastic, lifting gear around, driving vans to venues, rehearsing and practising new songs. It really made me think about tuning in to other people, and I'm not used to doing that," she told The Times.

According to Harvey, White Chalk took five months to record in the home studio of U2 producer Flood.