A change from her usual offering

IT may come as a surprise that acclaimed indie singer-songwriter Rachael Yamagata still gets stage fright before every performance. Although her solo musical career began 14 years ago, the nerves never completely went away. She reveals: "I'm actually deathly afraid of being vulnerable and performing in front of people (so) I have to convince myself to get up there. But when I do, there's nothing like the spontaneity you have with an audience. You never know what's going to happen and it's thrilling."

The Japanese-American singer will return to Singapore for the sixth time next month, and will showcase some of her newest songs including Tightrope Walker and Over from her upcoming album. She will perform with a full band at a concert at the Esplanade Concert Hall. Her international tour will commence here, before heading to Taiwan and Seoul.

Since her last trip to Singapore in 2013, Yamagata has been busy, touring the US with fellow singer-songwriter Joshua Radin, doing a solo tour of Germany, and celebrating the tenth anniversary of her first record, Happenstance. Not one to rest on her laurels, she has also been working on a new album.