AMERICAN singer-songwriter Mary Gauthier can explain the title of her seventh studio album Trouble And Love in a nutshell.

"In four years, I was able to fall in love, get into a relationship, watch it disintegrate and write a record about it, but I hope I didn't do it on purpose and that the record came out as a result," says the dry-witted Louisiana native turned Nashville resident, who brings the resulting songs to Pocklington Arts Centre on Saturday.

"I think songs are a combination of emotions and a story, and I write when I have a story to tell and emotions to express. It could be my own journey or another journey, but for this album I've written a lot more from my own journey and so they're songs about love and loss and spiritual growth at the end of it."

Mary is quick to add: "That spiritual growth is nothing to do with church and definitely nothing to do with religion at all. Pain can deepen us, make us grow up, so I suppose you could call it 'heart growth, but I use the term 'spiritual growth' because I tend to think of love as part of our spirit, part of our heart.

"It's a paradox to me how pain can deepen your love and how we understand people better when we hurt."

The conversation turns to crying; who cries, who doesn't, when and why.

"Oh, men are afraid to cry, at least young men are, though you hit a certain age and you can't stop, which is why I like old men," says Mary, 52. "Young men don't understand that crying is not a weakness. It gets mixed up with sexuality and homophobia. Ultimately I think women are meaner but more likely to cry."

Mary says she occupies the androgynous middle ground.

"I really love men; I relate to them so much, but as you know, I'm gay, so I really love women. People like me are regarded as shamanic," she says. "I can see both worlds so I don't write to gender. I write to humans in general. I try to write songs to the human heart because I really do see both sides and I just have a great love for the male and the female.

"I've not been in love with men but I trust men because they have never demolished me, whereas women are more capable of demolishing others. It has to do with how vulnerable I really am; how I need the feminine around me; the nurturing side.

"It speaks to me so deeply, the maternal softer side, but when it turns into ice, it's utterly devastating. You think you can't be both water and wine but women can be both cold and hot: the cold ice is there to protect children; the warmth, to nurture them."

As the title Trouble And Love indicates, Mary writes from adult experience that distinguishes her songs from pop's puppy love. "My experience is that love is anything but easy, but pop music is pretty much about the first 90 days of love, which is in fact the first 90 days of lust.

"Pop stars take care of those first 90 days; I'll take care of the rest."

Mary Gauthier plays Pocklington Arts Centre, with special guest Ben Glover, on Saturday at 8pm. Box office: 01759 301547 or at pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk