MCDERMOTT: You’re gaining the confidence to stand on your own two feet, so to speak. And on that note, the songs “Growing Pains” and “Wild Horses” really stood out to me. Could you talk a little bit about each of them?

BIRDY: “Growing Pains” is about change—really, a lot of the album is about change. I love writing love songs, but “Growing Pains” is about growing up and growing apart from people. Like, all my friends at the moment are at university and I never see them because we’ve taken such different paths. That’s okay, that’s natural, but it’s quite hard.

“Wild Horses” is about being strong on your own without being in a relationship. I took that from people around me and what they were going through. I haven’t had my heart broken, I haven’t gone through that, but people around me definitely have.

MCDERMOTT: I know the first song that you ever wrote, when you were like eight years old, was about love, too. Why do you think you’re so drawn toward the topic of love?

BIRDY: I don’t know… There’s just a lot to say, a lot of different subjects. When I started writing at eight years old, they were always really long, sad love songs. I hadn’t experienced anything; I hadn’t been in a relationship at eight years old. [laughs] But I’m still writing about it. I just think it’s a really powerful thing.

MCDERMOTT: This album doesn’t have any covers, but so many people know you as a “cover artist.” When you choose the songs that you’re going to cover what is the process like? What makes you want to cover a song?

BIRDY: It’s hearing something that I could make completely different. I loved all the songs I covered on the first album, but I also didn’t know them that well. I was able to change them, because when you know something really well, you end up doing what it already is. The covers album, for me, was really an experiment. I was in school at the time, so it was me having a chance to work on my own writing and put something out at the same time. I’ve never been that big on covers, to be honest. That album was an experiment.

MCDERMOTT: I also wanted to talk about your work with films. You contributed to the song “Learn Me Right” for the soundtrack of Brave, which earned a Grammy nomination, and you’ve had songs on other soundtracks, like The Fault in Our Stars, as well. What was it like writing specifically for a movie?

BIRDY: [For The Fault in Our Stars,] I had read the book and saw a screening of the movie. It was so moving, obviously, and I started writing this song with the piano and then I wrote the story for it. I also wrote a song for The Hunger Games and I got to sing on the Mumford and Sons song for Brave. I love writing for film; it’s my favorite thing. I’d love to do more of it. When I’m writing [for films], I’m always influenced by the stories. Sometimes I just make stuff up, but it’s writing a story for something that you’re inspired by. I’ve always worked like that, so writing for films is really natural.