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But now she's back! And it was all true, John Legend loves her, Will.I.Am has produced her cracking comeback single 'Wait A Minute (Just A Touch)' and it doesn't sound like a remedial sexist nursery rhyme (well done Will!). She's been winning over the US hip hop press (like , for example, who seem to love her as much as we do) and her new album 'Shine' will feature production work from the likes of Swizz Beats, Wyclef Jean, Cee-Lo, and (naturally) Mark Ronson.

But all of this pales into insignificance compared to the glory of 'Wait A Minute's lyrical genius, or at least the lyrical genius displayed in the line "wrap it up cos I ain't carrying your embryo", which is staggeringly good.

And so, given the chance to chat to Estelle on an incredibly bad phone line, in a truck stop somewhere in America, it seemed a perfect time to ask her her relationship with the written word. The results speak for themselves, or at least they would if the phone line hadn't been so poor the recording of the whole conversation is impossible to listen to.

Instead, here's a transcript of the bits I can still make out...I guess it's kind of apt that an interview about lyrics should appear in word form only.

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ChartBlog: First of all, where have you been?
Estelle: Working on my album! [laughs] I've been living and trying to have something to write about, y'know? And now I do and I'm happy! I went though a lot as well, went through a bunch of crazy stuff, y'know? I'm not mad, I had to do it in order to get the album out. I don't like to write from a crap perspective.

ChartBlog: It'd be like whenever you see girls on hen nights, they always have T-shirts with sassy slogans...
Estelle: Exactly! It will be all over the T-shirts for those that want it, don't worry, come and get it, come to my show! That's hilarious...

ChartBlog: Now, let's talk about words. Are you someone who pays a lot of attention to the lyrics of songs?
Estelle: Yeah, always consistently. I don't like to write anything that isn't true, anything that's not relateable, anything I don't 100% like or I 100% don't stand by, y'know? So that's me and my whole moment. I don't relate to it, I'm not in it, I'm not doing it!

ChartBlog: And when you're listening to music?
Estelle: Oh yeah I play a lot of attention. I was always into lyrics that made sense. You know they have those songs and they're meant to be some kind of poetry, and you just had to get it, like after the 50th listen? I never got to the 50th listen! A lyric has to hit me when I actually 100% felt it, or when I 100% felt like that relates to me. And most of the time I'm like "if I have to listen to it 50 times, what the hell are you talking about?". I never was one of those [drama voice] "oooh! I need it to be deep and meaningful".

ChartBlog: Are you one of those people who really gets into a song and then goes running up to people yelling "THIS SONG IS MY LIFE!"
Estelle: Yeah! I am. I'm one of those people.

ChartBlog: Can you give me an example of the last time that happend?
Estelle: Oh...the last time? [Thinks long and hard for a full 30 seconds, during which time the phone line cuts out repeatedly. After repeatedy listens back to the recording, I *THINK* she said 'The Lady Is A Tramp' and I *THINK* it's the Ella Fitzgeral version she likes.] If I was born in the 30's, that'd have been me.

ChartBlog: We've all had a vote, and we've decided that "wrap it up cos I ain't carrying your embryo" is the best lyric ever ever ever ever...
Estelle: Thank you! I'm glad you like it. When we went to write it, Will was like "nah, you shouldn't say that", and I was like "that's EXACTLY what I would say. I'm putting it in". He would just laugh and go "you're crazy" and I'd say "you don't know me, you'll find out though".

ChartBlog: Is it an attempt to stand up for all the girls, or...
Estelle: I'm just trying to be me. I figured a long time ago it's not good for me to pretend or to try and fit into anyone else's ideals of what I should do. It doesn't work for me, and it's boring, y'know? Straight down boring!

ChartBlog: Quite right too. It's always a good idea, when people are saying "don't do that, it's too much" to always trust your instincts and do it anyway...
Estelle: It's the BEST idea. You should go for whatever you feel like, y'know?

ChartBlog: It's so good a line, that one of Team ChartBlog actually has it as his Facebook status...
Estelle: That's so funny! That's gonna be it, I'm gonna put it on T-shirts and sell it from my merchandise box.

ChartBlog: You SO SHOULD!
Estelle: I am!

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Your ChartBlog interviewer was: Fraser McAlpine

Here's Estelle performing 'Wait A Minute (Just A Touch)' on Later...With Jools Holland at incredible volume.