Josie Field feels empowered.

"I feel like I've got a great fire inside because of what it is that I'm trying to do as an artist ? I want to fight for my art," she reveals.

And fight she does ? her second album 'Leyland' reveals a singular vision and maturity only hinted at on her already confident 2006 debut, 'Mercury'.

It turns out a lot has changed in the ensuing two years.

"I know what I want and I think I have more guts now, that I'm willing to experiment more," the singer-songwriter explains. "I think it's a little darker, a little rougher around the edges."

It also sounds more powerful, more rounded, more strident ? matching her own personal growth ? thanks to a different approach to working this time around.

"Literally my first album was just me and Kevin, my producer, in a studio making it together. It was quite a lonely experience."

Now she's been joined by her full touring band.

"It creates a bigger sound. Also it creates a more organic, live sound as well because there are these four different individuals who come in and work on it together," she explains.

"It was a nice experience this time around although being in studio is such a unique experience in general because you're searching for something you can't really get, which is perfection. But it's just such a focused process. But it's nice to share that experience with the others and just know that we're in it together."

That bond helped Field get through some of the difficulties she had writing the album that followed the sizeable radio hits 'Every Now And Then' and '10 Years'.

"There were times when I really did feel a lot of pressure," she admits and for the first time I remember she's just 24 years old.

"'Is the song good enough? Is it going to compare to the first album? People are going to be eyeing me more, specifically now because I've already done something once', all those thoughts came into my mind.

"Luckily I worked through them and made peace with the fact that this is my art and I'm not going to screw up my whole artistic way just because I want to please people."

Working on her own terms is something Field has always done ? for better or worse.

"Thinking that way made me question whether I was on the right track sometimes. There were times when I could have signed deals when I was younger but it was going to be all on their terms ? the way that I looked, the way that I sounded, the songs, all of that.

"And the hardest decision I've ever made was to say 'no thanks'. And the reason it was hard was because I didn't know if I'd ever get another opportunity."

But Field held out until she found people who shared her vision: "All I needed was people who believed in what I was trying to do and just help me do it the way I needed to do it.

"This is my material so I know how I want to portray it," she explains simply.

And, despite the periods of self doubt, such an approach has made her stronger.

"I'm living proof that you don't have to listen to the man. You can stick it to him. My main message as an artist is to not compromise your art for commercial gain."

So what you get on 'Leyland' is highly personal self expression, occasionally so intimate that it sounds like her diary set to music. It's no accident that the album title is her own middle name, that the cover is a close-up of her face, and that the opening track, 'Beating Heart' is something of a confessional.

"This album totally sums me up for now," says Field. "This is where I am right now, this is exactly who I am."

Yes, it's daunting to expose herself like this, she admits, "But that's who I am. I'm ready to be brave now and to be responsible for my own music and to be a responsible artist and stand by my choices and decisions and not do anything against my will.

"I just feel braver now."