Since coming out last year, Emeli Sandé has never felt happier. “It’s all about understanding, accepting and embracing yourself,” the singer-songwriter tells me. We’re speaking on the phone so I can’t see her face, but I imagine she’s smiling as she adds: “It has unlocked so many doors both creatively and emotionally within me and I feel so much more grounded within myself.”
Sandé is engaged to classical pianist Yoana Karemova and says of the wedding: “We don’t have a date yet but it’s definitely in talks. We’re very deep in love and it just makes life glorious.”
Now 36, Emeli (who was previously married to marine biologist Adam Gouraguine before they split up in 2014) is much more settled in her thirties than she was in her twenties. “One thousand per cent,” she says. “You really settle into yourself as you grow older and you learn so much from different experiences. I look back on my twenties and I couldn’t have had a better time. I lived my dream, got to do all of these amazing performances and make albums. But now in my thirties I can let myself marinate. I feel so much more confident in myself, for sure.”
Released last spring, her fourth album Let’s Say for Instance reflects her happier, more grounded state of mind. Most of it was recorded during lockdown. “A big inspiration was the idea of connecting with people, because so much of that connection had been taken away. I wanted to make the music as positive and uplifting as I could. I had a studio at home and could go down and record things in the middle of the night. I felt like I had complete freedom.”
Denne historien er fra Reader's Digest May 2023-utgaven av Reader's Digest UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra Reader's Digest May 2023-utgaven av Reader's Digest UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
EVERY SECOND COUNTS: TIPS TO WIN THE RACE AGAINST TIME
Do you want to save 1.5 seconds every day of your life? According to the dishwasher expert at the consumer organisation Choice, there’s no need to insert the dishwashing tablet into the compartment inside the door.
May Fiction
An escaped slave's perspective renews Huckleberry Finn and the seconds tick down to nuclear Armageddon in Miriam Sallon’s top literary picks this month
Wine Not
In a time of warning studies about alcohol consumption, Paola Westbeek looks at non-alcoholic wines, how they taste and if they pair with food
Train Booking Hacks
With the cost of train travel seemingly always rising, Andy Webb gives some tips to save on ticket prices
JOURNEY TO SALTEN, NORWAY, UNDER THE MIDNIGHT SUN
Here, far from the crowds, in opal clarity, from May to September, the sun knows no rest. As soon as it’s about to set, it rises again
My Britain: Cheltenham
A YEAR IN CHELTENHAM sees a jazz festival, a science festival, a classical music festival and a literature festival. Few towns with 120,000 residents can boast such a huge cultural output!
GET A GREEN(ER) THUMB
Whether you love digging in the dirt, planting seeds and reaping the bounty that bursts forth, or find the whole idea of gardening intimidating, this spring offers the promise of a fresh start.
Under The GRANDFLUENCE Suzi Grant
After working in TV and radio as an author and nutritionist, Suzi Grant started a blog alternativeageing.net) and an Instagram account alternativeageing). She talks to Ian Chaddock about positive ageing”
Sam Quek: If I Ruled The World
Sam Quek MBE is an Olympic gold medalwinning hockey player, team captain on A Question of Sport and host of podcast series Amazing Starts Here
Stand Tall, Ladies
Shorter men may be having their moment, but where are the tall women?