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You were in a choir when you were young. Did that factor into your music?

I went to St. Edward’s, in Gloucestershire, and I was in choirs. When it was cold and raining, we’d go to rehearsal and learn about harmonies and dynamics. I’ve never been into the typical R&B voice, with runs and bluesy sounding words. That doesn’t suit me. As a ballet dancer, I grew up with classical music. I’m not a classical musician, but I like the way the music pays attention to dynamics.

What you gravitate toward has little to do with mainstream R&B, or whatever alternative R&B is.

If I say “alternative red” to you, it’s not red, is it? “Alternative R&B” is patronizing to R&B. R&B is R&B—it doesn’t need an alternative. There are plenty of artists now experimenting with electronic music, manipulating sounds. We can make a train into a synth. We can make drips into hi-hats. I can record sounds on my phone and make a song out of a city. I don’t know what that has to do with R&B.

In some of your songs, it’s not apparent where the downbeat is.

A famous artist said something to me about dancing. When you look at people dancing, it looks like some of them have no rhythm. But how can that be? When people dance around the beat, they might have a higher understanding of rhythm, the way dogs hear sounds that we can’t.

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