ROCHDALE soul queen Lisa Stansfield decided to take a break from the music world after her 2004 album failed to make the Top 40.

"I didn't think anyone was going to listen to what I had to say, so why bother?" she said, after The Moment stalled at number 57.

Nevertheless, she and husband Ian Daveney never stopped writing songs, either at their home in Rochdale, where Lisa has a studio called Gracielands, in honour of the Lancashire town's fellow singer and actress Gracie Fields, or at their London house in Hampstead.

This year, she has ended her ten-year hiatus with Seven, so named as it is Stansfield's seventh studio album, one that marks her return to the soul and R&B formula that brought her nearly 20 million record sales and BRIT and Ivor Novello awards since 1989.

"I always had the material, I just didn't think I fitted into anything that was happening in music," she said, but the rise of Amy Winehouse, Adele and Emeli Sande convinced her emotional, modern soul songs were in vogue again. "I thought, 'If I don't do it now, I never will', so I started getting ready to release the album."

Come January, she did, and a number 13 chart placing ensued. Now you can hear 48-year-old Lisa performing songs from "the best albumI've ever made" at York Barbican tomorrow night.

Doors open at 6.30pm; the start time is still to be confirmed officially, so play safe and arrive by 7.30pm. Tickets remain available at £27.50 on 0844 854 2757 or at yorkbarbican.co.uk