LANCASTER singer-songwriter Imogen Rae has released her second album – with a little help from her fans.

‘Queen of Hearts’ was crowd funded through a Kickstarter campaign, which drew £12,000 funding in a month.

“It was unbelievably overwhelming,” said Imogen, “it’s an amazing feeling to know that the album belongs to my supporters as well as me.”

The album was produced by Mercury Award Nominated producer Andy Ross, who decided to work with her after hearing her debut album ‘Breathless’.

Imogen said that while the first album was a celebration of the music she studied at school, and the people she shared her childhood and early gigging career with, the second one is ‘more of a pop record’.

“It’s more radio play-able – I’d written over 100 songs but we chose the ones we thought would be fun and went together well as an album.

“It was more about trying to work out what I wanted to say and what I wanted to put across as me.”

With the help of 300 backers, ‘Queen of Hearts’ was recorded in ASTAR Studios in Manchester – recently named as one of the top three studios in Europe.

Although currently in her third year studying medicine at Cambridge, Imogen has a busy festive period coming up, having been booked by Lancaster BID and The Bay Radio to perform at the Christmas Lights Switch On in her home city at the end of November, along with Lemar.

Other Christmas bookings include a special evening with a three course Dinner at The Royal Kings Arms in Lancaster, an appearance at Halton Mills and a show Shap Memorial Hall on December 10.

“That will be a special one because my grandparents live in Shap and I’d like to get my grandad to do something for the show,” said Imogen.

“He used to be in a band called the Blue Star Band, who were on the radio all the time.”

On top of that, Imogen’s exhaustive schedule also includes writing the BBC Children in Need jingle for Radio Lancashire, and seeking funding for a self-penned musical about scheming bankers.

Queen of Hearts is available to hear on Spotify, iTunes and via www.imogenrae.co.uk .