The singer, whose UK tour stops off at Liverpool’s Philharmonic Hall on Sunday, says jazz was initially just one of many genres of music she enjoyed.

"It wasn’t that I was into jazz," she explains. "I was just a person with a hunger for music and I found it anywhere and everywhere, whether I was eating in a restaurant with my family or in a shop waiting for my mother to play the bill."

The genre has treated her well. Kent has recorded six best-selling albums and has won a string of awards, including the British Jazz Award. Her current album, Breakfast On the Morning Tram, is a mixture of classic standards and new songs written by Tomlinson in collaboration with the award- winning novelist Kazuo Ishiguro.

"I love the romance of this music. I’m a very romantic and optimistic person," says Kent. "There’s a lot of music out there that’s just as emotional, but jazz feels right to me and your responsibility as an artist is to find the music that fits you.

"In the same way that you shop for clothes – you might see lots of things on the hangers that look gorgeous but you know that they wouldn’t work for you."

STACEY KENT is at Liverpool’s Philharmonic Hall on Sunday.