​"I really enjoy touring and playing music to people," says neo-soul, jazz, R&B and indie alchemist Corinne Bailey Rae in her gently mellifluous Yorkshire accent.

The daughter of an English mother and West Indian father, Bailey Rae exudes some of the breezy serenity of her father's idyllic-sounding birthplace, Saint Kitts.

"It's a really beautiful island," says the singer, fondly recalling children "running down the street, across the beach and into the sea, waiting for the fisherman to come in on their boats". These memories come from her own visits to Saint Kitts as well as her dad's childhood stories of daily ocean swimming, marble games and racing lizards.

Growing up in Leeds, northern England, Bailey Rae's considerable urban groove is noticeably tempered by this tropical heritage.

"It's a very different kind of life," she says, comparing Saint Kitts to West-Yorkshire while recounting her father's immigrant experience. "It's interesting with the Caribbean because it was a British colony, so in a way the Caribbeans were more British than the British. They'd learnt all the UK rivers and county names … They knew Biggles books and were expecting crumpets by the fire and tea."

Instead, it was often white-bread ignorance and the smell of lager they encountered in Britain. 

"There was a lot of racism around at that time, but I don't hear about that from my family," Bailey Rae says. They preferred to focus on the positives: "They've all fared really well, survived and thrived."

In a post-Brexit, Trump-elected world where anti-immigration policies have gained renewed traction, Bailey Rae follows the family trait, emphasising the galvanising of communities and organised resistance.

"I'm just a generally hopeful person. The Caribbean has had a big impact on me," she says. Besides the positivity: "It's very outdoorsy, people don't really spend a lot of time indoors. There's so much light and sunshine."

Little wonder she's keen to leave behind dim recording bunkers and hit the road. "When you've been in the studio for so long … it's just so nice to suddenly think: the record is its own, free-standing thing, but now we're going to be playing it live. Every single time you [perform] it can be completely different. It's affected by your mood, the weather, how the audience is, whether it's inside and how long the show is.

"I love the fact it's different every day and different depending on what country you're in and the feel of the city and how many times you've played there before."

That last variable is all the more relevant in 2017 as Bailey Rae – despite double-Grammy status, 5 million album sales worldwide, a considerable fan base here and numerous offers to tour – has never visited Australian venues. Locals can expect a range of tunes from her three studio albums, including last year's The Heart Speaks In Whispers. There will also probably be a surprise cover version or two. Having started her career fronting a riot grrrl-era indie band, genre confines are decidedly uninteresting for this soul singer.

"There's always been an important conversation between those two styles of music in what I do," she says. "On my first tour I was a playing a Led Zeppelin cover right alongside my first record.

"In America sometimes I'll play to a full black audience of young people, they will be really getting into this super-aggressive guitar music. It's really great to know that people who are coming to the gigs don't have any particular expectations. They know that it's going to be quite broad and they're not expecting it to be a neat and tidy soul gig."

Corinne Bailey Rae plays Sydney's Metro Theatre, April 16 and 17, $73.30; Melbourne's 170 Russell, April 19 and 20, $71; and Byron Bay Bluesfest, April 13-17, five days $620. 

 

• 1979: Born in Leeds ahead of two sisters, one of whom stars in Coronation Street.

• Studies classical violin in school but debuts vocally with a church youth group which changes the lyrics to acid-house and psych tunes for Sunday services.

• Mid-'90s: Forms feminist-fuelled indie guitar band Helen.

• 2001: Weds saxophonist Jason Rae, scoring a double-barrel surname.

• 2005: Solo debut with Grammy-winning single, followed by major-label self-titled LP earning comparisons to Erykah Badu and Bailey Rae's fave jazz vocalist, Billie Holiday.

• 2010: Re-emerges after death of husband with gold album The Sea.

• 2016: Latest album The Heart Talks In Whispers arrives featuring a co-write with the Simpson half of Motown super-songwriting duo Ashford & Simpson.