THEA Gilmore plays Pocklington tonight, hot on the heels of the June 2 release of The Counterweight, her 15th album and her first set of new material in four years.

Thea has all but abandoned her trusty acoustic guitar in favour of an iPad and a piano; a change that forced her out of her comfort zone into exploring new methods of composing, as well as new ways of recording.

“I’m not someone who plans albums in advance,” says the Oxford-born singer-songwriter, who now lives in Cheshire. “I don’t decide what subjects to write about or how the songs will sound, but I knew I needed a change. I didn’t want to write another acoustic guitar album. I’d done that enough already.”

While sonically The Counterweight is new terrain for Thea, the album's themes – the shifting political landscape, our absorption in technology, America’s gun culture and the search for hope in times of trouble included – recall Thea’s 2003 breakthrough album, Avalanche.

So much so, she considers The Counterweight to be Avalanche's "more mature older sister”. “All but one of the songs were written in 2016, such a monumental year that it was impossible for me to not address what was going on. I found myself taking a long hard look at how we’ve changed since 2003. And for the most part, things haven’t improved."

Despite its hefty themes, The Counterpoint is not gloomy. "A songwriter’s job is to get people thinking, not make them so despondent they don’t act. You may as well stick your head in the oven right now if you can’t see a crack of light in dark times," says Thea.

Tickets for tonight's 8pm concert are on sale at £20 on 01759 301547 or at pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk