Stone on a roll

K. native, who co-wrote all but one of the tracks on the disc. "I want everyone to know that I'm trying to bring back real music.

What people don't realize about the music they're listening to now is that none of those instruments are real. And half the time, none of the voices are real, either. They've sucked all of the soul out of music, and it's so sad.

But we can fix it. We can put it back in, and that's what I'm trying to do." A teenage English lass might seem an unlikely authority on "real" rock or soul music, but consider for a moment the trajectory of Stone's career.

She first decided to become a singer after seeing a TV commercial for an Aretha Franklin compilation, then appeared on a BBC talent show at 14 with a cover of Donna Summer's On the Radio. At her first record label audition in New York, she lent her larger-than-life pipes to a Gladys Knight tune, and she caught the attention of industry types in North America by recasting The White Stripes' Fell In Love With A Girl as a funky, sultry slow jam. And since bursting on to the scene, she has found herself sharing stages with a number of her idols, among them Knight, Sly Stone, Stevie Wonder and Melissa Etheridge, with whom she famously paid homage to Janis Joplin during a rousing duet on Piece Of My Heart.

So it's surprising to hear that Stone -- known for exuding confidence beyond her years while performing -- still wrestles with a pretty crippling case of stage fright. "When I know I have to do it (perform), I do it, but when the music stops and it's just me up there, it's scary," says the singer, whose trademark blond tresses are now brown with pink streaks. "And singing with those greats is even worse, because I feel like I'm being compared to them.

But when I'm singing with someone of that stature, I'm learning. This is like school for me." Stone got a chance to put some of her lessons to use while writing the tracks for the new album (on which both Common and Lauryn Hill appear) in the Caribbean last year.

A number of the songs have to do with love gone bad, and Stone has already admitted they were written during what she calls a "f--k off" stage in her life. "I realized the reason I was falling in love with these people was because of the music that was coming through them," says Stone, who was once linked to songwriter Beau Dozier. "I'm blinded by my love for music.

I'm completely a slave to it, and for me, nobody can beat music." While her love life might have its ups and downs, Stone has so far managed to avoid the tabloid glare that has dogged her contemporaries, save for a bizarre appearance at last month's Brit Awards, where she delivered a somewhat disjointed monologue in a faux American accent. "I just don't have the time for that -- I work every day," says Stone, her lilting British accent once again intact.

"But for those girls to go out and party all the time, I say go for it. If I had the time, I'd be right there with them!