As I mentioned, I'm really excited about the forthcoming new album, which is coming together nicely. I'm really happy with the songs, and I have some cool ideas for the arrangements. Can't wait for you to hear it.

I'm so grateful to everyone who supports my music, and this time I thought I'd try a bit of an experiment in "fan funding", as a number of other artists have done lately. Basically, the way this works is you can contribute different amounts of money towards the album production process, and in return, you get different perks, treats or goodies, such as a bonus track download, exclusive updates, your name in the sleeve, and even a concert in your own home. It's a great way to get involved, and feel part of creating something special. I've called it being a "patron" of the album.

I've made a page to help you to do this, if you'd like to - You can find out more about becoming a patron of the new album here.

If you don't want to become a "patron", but you do want to pre-order the album, that's cool too, pre-ordering is now live in the store.

I'm grateful to the marvellous singer-songwriter Miriam Jones for some of the ideas about becoming a "patron" which have been really helpful. You should go and check out her music (after you've read all about becoming a patron, of course). She's also on Saturday afternoon in the performance cafe at Greenbelt, so looking forward to meeting her then!