In the studio with... KT Tunstall

At London’s Eden studios on the last day of recording her sophomore album — the follow-up to last year’s platinum breakthrough Eye to the Telescope — KT Tunstall is charmingly buoyant for someone who likely hasn’t slept much lately. “It’s a big ﬂying bastard,” she enthuses in an arresting brogue, describing the fruits of the last few months.

Like many artists going into their sophomore album, Tunstall’s writing process was hampered by nonstop touring. Tunstall admits that while song ideas do come to her on tour, “on the road they’d pretty much stay ideas.” For Tunstall, then, the chance to live and work in London while recording was a welcome respite, particularly since she’s enamored with the current crop of bands on the British airwaves.

While Tunstall normally doesn’t listen to other music while recording, her return to London necessitated a car (a hybrid, she adds), hence a radio blasting the likes of Bloc Party, Arctic Monkeys and Aussie transplants the Howling Bells. Some of the rock instincts of this latter-day British Invasion seeped into KT’s work, as well. “My post-punk has been unleashed,” she says, promising that the tempo of her new record is often “four to five times” that of its predecessor and increasingly features her electric-guitar work.

The disc promises other surprises, too — “one shocker is that I’ve become a monster of the ukulele,” she chuckles, noting that its popularity amongst schoolkids in Bath prompted her to put together a four-stringed workout for the youngsters on the track “Funny Man.”

But even at the 11th hour on the final day of a series of recording sessions dating back to December, Tunstall admits there’s still work left to do. Guided by producer Steve Osborne, with whom she recorded Telescope, she notes that working with a trusted collaborator can be “a double-edged sword — we know each other well enough to be honest.” In other words, nothing is done until it’s done, and with a mix of some amusement and bewilderment, Tunstall cops to the fact that she even recorded an album-worthy song the previous day. With this admission, it seems high time to let her off the phone and back to the job of finishing what sounds like a bold and vigorous step forward for the Scottish songbird.