Eliza Doolittle has revealed writing music about having her heart broken gave her strength.

The singer-songwriter's new album In Your Hands was informed by doomed romances, and she admitted that although it is strange to use her own heartache for her music, it was cathartic.

She said: "One of the worst things about being so upset and heartbroken is that, straight away, I think I'll be able to use it to write a song. It's such a horrible feeling, thinking that. And after I'd gotten over that break-up, I had my heart broken again, and went through it all over again.

"The one thing that gave me strength and made me realise it was going to be OK was being able to write about it."

Eliza, 25, said the album's title track is the most vulnerable song she's written, while Walking On Water is the most joyous.

"When I'm happy, I can't imagine being sad and when I'm sad, I can't imagine being happy again. I'm annoying like that," she said.

"Although I wouldn't say this is a break-up album. There are songs where I am fully in the throes of love and joy and then there are other songs that were triggered by a break-up, but to me they're more than that."

Eliza also told how she has learned a lot between her successful debut album, released in 2010, and the follow-up.

"I've learned so much about myself and how I feel about love and life in general - and there's a huge battle between the pessimistic side of my character and the optimistic side," she said. "As a result, I've shown a lot more of myself on this record, plus I've learned so much about the technicalities of actually recording. I've learned as a person as well as an artist."

:: Eliza Doolittle's second album In Your Hands is out now.