Katie Melua 'misses' old producer

Katie Melua has admitted that she missed working with her long-time co-writer and producer on her new album.

The singer, who took full creative control on new LP The House, revealed that she initially made "appalling" music without usual collaborator Mike Batt.

"I did go through a phase of reading a lot of poetry and getting heavily into philosophy and ended up writing things that weren't really in a musical format, which I put to some very electronic-based backing," she told The Daily Telegraph.

"I was also screaming quite loud. It was appalling, I would not wish that on anyone. I kind of feel the most natural when I'm not getting in the way of the music and I'm not trying too hard."

She continued: "I wasn't trying to get away from anything. It was more about going towards something. I wanted the music to be inspired by the future, something unknown that's never been heard before, but at the same time hold on to the values of the music of the past, to try and tap into something that's so ancient and old that it's kind of forgotten.

"I thought that, if we went far enough in both directions, we could end up in the same place."

Melua's fourth album The House is released on May 24.