Roisin Murphy never wanted to be a pop star.
The ‘Familiar Feeling’ hitmaker was one-half of the 90s UK-Irish duo Moloko with her ex-partner Mark Brydon, but she went on to have a solo career, releasing her debut album ‘Ruby Blue’ in 2005.
Despite signing to a major label, the record received mixed reviews from critics, with many labelling the difficult to pigeonhole artist a "freak", despite her having a similar eccentric style to pop superstar Lady Gaga, who was climbing the charts.
In hindsight, the Irish singer/songwriter admits she would have never been able to be easily "moulded" into a pop artist.
In an in interview with Britain’s The I newspaper, she recalled: "I got reviews at the time saying, ‘Why’s she not a pop star? Well, look at the sleeve, she’s a freak!’ Then six months later you’ve got Lady Gaga wearing exactly the same f**king outfit. I’m sorry, but it’s frustrating. But I don’t play ball.
"I’m not the kind of human you can mould, because I was moulded already because I came from a strong family."
Roisin concludes that she would have found international fame "extremely compromising" because she would never want to "compromise" her image and sound to sell out.
She said: "I think maybe, looking back at it, I didn’t ever really want to be a pop star and I wouldn’t really have suited being a pop star and it would have been extremely frustrating for me.
"The reason I haven’t in inverted commas ‘compromised’ is because I haven’t been compromised by fame.
"Fame is the most compromising thing of all.
"The pressure that comes back from a big, big audience is on another level. Because they’ll show you straight away if they’re not enjoying it."