Christine and the Queens was "reclusive and lonely" making her first album.
The 30-year-old singer – whose real name is Heloise Letissier – has revealed she buried her head in books when she was working on her debut LP ‘Chaleur humaine’, and it was only after she toured the world and got to interact with her audience that she grew a confidence, which allowed her to be more "intimate" with her fans on her second record, ‘Chris’.
The ‘Saint Claude’ hitmaker – who is up for Best Solo Artist and Best Track for ‘Girlfriend’ at the 2018 Q Awards – spilled to the Metro newspaper: "On the first album I was quite reclusive and lonely.
"I was in my books, believing that literature was better than life."
On how she felt approaching her next record, she explained: "I got empowered , I got to live more and to touch and be touched.
"’Chris’ is looser and a bit more confident.
"It’s me pulling you a bit closer to me.
"The nickname is also interesting. You get to be a bit intimate with me, I think."
On becoming more open, she added: "I felt like I had to tell a new chapter and I didn’t want to protect anything.
"I kinda had this energy like a kamikaze of ‘let’s tell my story again.’
"It was pouring out of me.
"It wasn’t too complicated or tormented.
"My stage character is a raw expression of who I am.
"So it is actually a more filtered one because the stage is a place where I get to choose everything."
Meanwhile, the ‘Tilted’ hitmaker previously revealed her new music will be "sweaty and tougher".
Asked if her new record would be the same kind of music as her 2014 offering ‘Chaleur humaine’, she said: "I can’t really tell much because then that would spoil the fun – but it will definitely be more sweaty and tougher.
"Maybe more high-tempo, but still really sad because I’m just me and I’m just sad deep down, but I’ll properly be able to dance on it all the time."
‘Chris’ is released on September 21.