Tracey Thorn - femme fatale cover, 1982

That was 30 years ago, when I was 19 years old. The songs are more or less all about Ben [Watt, her husband and long-time musical collaborator]. We had met on our first night at university, but he had a girlfriend back home, and things dragged on for a while, as they do. There were lots of scenes, tears, letters. Perfect inspiration for the kind of songwriter I was turning out to be. It was well received at the time and has proved enduringly popular, and I think that's because it's such a passionate record. It wears its heart very much on its sleeve, and is short enough to get away with doing so.