SHE might have been at the top of her game for the past 12 years, toured with Take That and met the Queen, but it doesn't seem to have gone to Beverley Knight's head.

The 34-year-old Midland's-born soul singer chats with ease about her forthcoming album, relationships, charity work and the tour that brings her to Southend and Brentwood in November.

Her fifth album, Music City Soul, is released on Monday and is, according to Beverley, her finest work to date.

"Seriously girl!" she enthuses.

"This is the first one my mum has put on and played constantly and gets annoyed if anyone turns off!"

Recorded in five days in Nashville, Tennessee (known as Music City' due to it's rich musical heritage), Music City Soul sees Beverley adopting a live, organic soul sound that pushes her gospel roots to the fore. The album is produced by Mark Nevers (producer of last year's acclaimed Candi Staton album) and features a collection of local Tennessee musicians who have played with legends such as Elvis Presley and Al Green.

"It's an utterly live affair," she says.

"There are no programmed beats. For me it's going back to the roots of music that I always had, that's something I enjoy a lot of."

Beverley was born of Jamaican parents and grew up in a strict Pentecostal household where church attendance was compulsory. It is here where she began her singing career.

In 1994 she signed to Dome records and a year later released soul album the B-Funk. Prodigal Sista followed in 1998 and Who I Am was released in 2002. In 2004 Beverley took a turn in her musical direction by releasing Affirmation, a more mainstream pop album that alienated much of her urban fanbase.

"I like to confound people, frankly," she says.

"I think you've got to be a maverick, otherwise everyone would produce the same boring music all the time."

Music City Soul was written last summer, after what Beverley describes as "yet another" relationship break-up.

"This album was all about what was happening to me that day and the day before and how I was feeling at that very minute," she says, of how she composed songs such as the Queen Of Starting Over and Why Me Why You Why Now.

"A rant at a girlfriend turned into a song. My life was like a soap opera at the time!"

Not many artists stand the test of time in the music industry and when Beverley's first album was released, she stood alongside artists such as TLC and Boyz II Men on the charts.

"I signed my deal as a very young adult," she says.

"And middle age is only seven or eight years away now! Things have changed enormously. I've had relationships and they've come and gone and now I'm single, which I'm absolutely loving. There've been deaths, births and all those things that an adult goes through. They've all impacted on my life and therefore my music."

Her success has seen her win Mobo awards, as well as Brit and Mercury nominations and singing by invitation for a host celebrated fans including David Bowie, Mohammed Ali, Nelson Mandela and even the leaders of the G8. Last May Beverley also got to support Take That on their comeback tour. But in February this year she received her biggest prize to date - an MBE from the Queen.

"It was so surreal," she says of the accolade that was awarded for her services to music.

"It was mad. There I am in the middle of Buckingham Palace - me, this girl from the Midlands. It was such a moving experience for my parents - they were so, so proud of me."

As well as the pending tour which brings Beverley to Essex later this year, the soul singer will also be performing at the V-Festival for the fourth time in Chelmsford in August.

"I love doing festivals," she says.

"You get a whole host of new people to play your music to. Festivals have built careers. I always remember when someone dropped out of Live Aid and Tracey Chapman was asked to step in - people were like who?', but after that, her song Fast Car went to the top of the charts. That's the power of standing on a stage."

Beverley has herself lent support to many charities and is an ambassador for many charities such as Christian Aid and has travelled to areas affected by disease and poverty to help raise awareness. She is an active campaigner for anti-Aids organisations such as the Stop AIDS Campaign and The Terrence Higgins Trust and is also a vocal campaigner against homophobic lyrics in urban music.

"My friend who died in 2003, it was aids that killed him," Beverley explains in a quiet voice.

"He was my closest friend and I lived with him, so it shook me profoundly to see him die like that. I think it's the most evil disease."

Newly single and with so much success already behind her, I ask Beverley what she thinks the future might hold.

"Wherever the wind of music will take me," she says.

"Finally, finally, I have made the album I always wanted to make. I will never make music any other way again. Finally I sound the way I want to sound."

The single No man's Land is out now. Music City Soul is released on May 7.

Beverley Knight plays at the Cliffs Pavilion, Westcliff on Wednesday, November 14 (call 01702 351135 for tickets) and at the Brentwood Leisure Centre on Tuesday, November 27 (call 01277 262616 for tickets).