Solange Knowles suffered 'breakdown'

Solange Knowles has revealed that she had a mental breakdown while recording her new album.

The 'I Decided' singer, who has been making the follow-up to her 2008 record Sol-Angel and the Hadley St. Dreams, admitted that her desire for perfection on the new record made her "lose it".

She told Vibe: "There was definitely a little bit of a breakdown involved. I literally gave up my sanity for a while to do this record. To the point to where I started doing it in Santa Barbara and I had to relocate to LA because I was losing it.

"We literally were waking up in the morning and just making music all day and all night. We left the house maybe three times!

"It just started to wear on me in so many different ways. I started having these crazy panic attacks. I can say that I totally sacrificed so much mentally, emotionally and financially to get this record the way I wanted it to be. It’s more than an album to me. It’s a transitional time in my life."

Describing the album's sound, she said: "This is a dance record, but the lyrics can get pretty dark at times."

Knowles is expected to release her third studio album later this year.