"Blank Frank’ is a song that manages to be super-modern and futuristic even though it’s about forty years old now. It’s from Here Come The Warm Jets, which is one of my favourite records of all time and I got into it when I was about fourteen or fifteen. It was very challenging, it was quite arty and some of it’s abrasive, but because I loved Roxy Music I was into investing some time in it and forty odd years later it’s definitely a Desert Island Disc for me. It’s partly because it’s so full of ideas, but also because it could only have come out of the UK. “I think all great art represents its environment; Jasper Johns is an obvious one because he used a flag, but if you look at the Pop Art movement it feels like Manhattan in the 60s’, the LA 60s’ art scene doesn’t look anything like the East Coast art scene. You could say exactly the same thing for Hip Hop, I think anything that’s informed by its environment is interesting and is usually pretty good. “Here Come The Warm Jets would be really quite an interesting record if it came out now, the vocals are very, very British. You know the word ‘arch’? I think arch is something that Americans don’t really do and I’m not saying that with any sense of nationalism, I think that for good and bad arch is a particularly British trait, it’s kind of intellectual, it’s remote and it’s not earnest. People often think that’s a bad thing and that music - and singing in particular - has got to be from the heart, or else it’s not authentic. “The X-Factor and talent shows have done so much damage to singing and the art of songwriting, because the basic premise is the more emotive a thing is the more quality it’s got and that’s complete nonsense. Siouxsie Sioux isn’t about that and ‘Blank Frank’ totally exemplifies it, it’s still a great rocking track but its arch and arty, it’s quite intellectual but it’s still engaging. “One of the reasons I picked a lot of these songs is because they were part of my formative years and a theme running through this is the UK in the 70s’. The idea of it being this sea of beige and brown with terrible haircuts and power cuts was a little part of it, but when you put all these records together, particularly Brian Eno and Roxy Music, it tells a completely different story."

"I loved the lyric in 'Angel of Mine', and I loved how simple and poignant it was. Eternal was actually my first concert I went to – I just remember learning all these ballads of theirs. I was completely Eternal-obsessed from eight to 12! Maybe it was that they had elements of gospel in their music, and it was still in the pop scene. ""There weren’t many black women on the TV when I was growing up – there were maybe one or two, not people I could look up to and say, ‘Oh, that’s me, that’s who represents me. I have a chance of being on TV one day, and I could be a singer.’ ""When Eternal came along, my mind was blown on so many levels. I thought they were so beautiful, and they had so many hairstyles that I thought were amazing. Then, on top of that, they could truly sing ­ – they’d come from the church. Instead of always looking at American singers, they gave me a British option – something more relatable and close to home. ""Now, there’s so much [black British media] coming out – the actress Zawe Ashton has just released a book, and it was so amazing to see her take account of her [experiences]. There’ve never been any people on TV that show any products for her hair, just this dream that’s sold that you’re going to have this amazing glossy hair! I felt so touched by that chapter, ‘cause it just reminded me of myself as a kid. You forget once you’re an adult, and you get to move somewhere like London and have access to all of these things. As a kid it can feel very lonely and you feel very different. I feel very grateful for the progress we’ve made as a country, to prevent that feeling as much as possible."" ""I try my best to take on that responsibility, though thankfully I think there’s so many more people of colour on TV – including black women. The culture has so much more of a voice from when I was growing up, and I think that’s the beautiful thing about social media as well: you can see yourself in so many places, and you can choose where you look. When I’m on TV, though, I definitely think about that. I think about me as a kid, and what that would have meant to me. I’m proud of stepping out there and doing my best to represent in the best way possible. I feel very grateful to have had that opportunity. It’s so important for children’s self-esteem and sense of belonging."