AN ACOUSTIC strongress, who sings about the 'dark things in life' that play on her conscious, is heading to Lancaster on September 25, Liverpool on October 7 and Manchester on October 10.

Emmy the Great has enjoyed universal praise since her debut album First Love in 2009.

London-based four-piece's frontwoman and songwriter Emma-Lee Moss has already penned songs for a new album called Virtue, which she said reflected her growing maturity and challenged topics on everything from climate change to colonisation.

The 10-track album is filled with a beautifully smooth folk/acoustic sound and morally significant lyrics.

Emmy told me it has been getting a good response from crowds the band has played to during a UK tour.

“We weren't expecting anything really amazing but it's had a good beginning and will slowly grow,” she said.

“I love libraries so I think it will be really interesting to play in the one in Lancaster.”

She revealed that the band spent their early career in the North and classed themselves as ‘wannabe’ kids from Manchester '.

“We played Kendal Calling a few years ago. I love that area it has one of the most beautiful landscapes in the world,” she said.

First Love was recorded in Lancashire and Emmy said although the band is now in London, their inspiration still comes from the north.

“If someone has experienced something similar to what is in my songs and realises after listening to it that they are not alone- because others out there are experiencing the same thing- then that's what art and music is all about I think,” she added.

She still rates Kendal’s own Wild Beasts as the best band from the noughties, with The Strokes as close contenders but ‘too inconsistent’.

* Emmy The Great plays Lancaster Library on Sunday, September 25, 8.15pm £12.50; Liverpool Stanley Theatre on Friday, October 7, 7.30pm; Manchester Deaf Institute on Monday, October 10, 7.30pm.