With Pirate Lover, out 25 March 2026, Lettie is returning with an album built on intimacy and craft. The nine-track release was largely recorded in her home, fitted around the limited time available outside her day job. Rather than aiming for polish through technology, the album is positioned as an antidote to formulaic modern production, leaning on unusual instruments and a deeply personal atmosphere.

Its songs are informed by a range of real-life pressures and turning points. The material touches on a near-death experience, a family gambling addiction, and the destruction of the area where Lettie grew up through the arrival of a major new power station. Yet the record is not only about damage; it also takes in the discovery of love with an ex-racing car driver, giving Pirate Lover an emotional breadth that moves between grief, memory and affection.

A key factor in the album’s direction was Lettie’s reaction to hearing that her dentist had built an online audience with AI-generated music despite having no instrumental or gigging background. In response, she turned even more firmly toward the values that have long defined her work. Inspired by Molly Drake and old Blues musicians, she started with voice and acoustic guitar at the kitchen table, before bringing in players such as Dave Barbarossa. The final record remains sparse by design, with Cameron Craig providing the principal finishing touch through his Grammy Award-winning mixing work.

That approach fits naturally with Lettie’s wider career. Raised in Suffolk, where she attended the same school as Ed Sheeran, she also shared a Jimmy’s Farm weekend bill with him in September 2010, famously sending him her tech spec by accident. Earlier, her collaboration with David Baron in New York led to albums including Age of Solo and Everyman, plus BBC support and frequent live work. She later toured Europe with Peter Murphy while also selling merchandise, and her distinctive vocals have featured on “Johnny Remember Me,” with Roger O’Donnell of The Cure describing her as “a precious English talent.”