Natasha Bedingfield believes she has grown into a better performer over the course of her career, saying more than two decades on stage have made her a stronger singer and given her greater confidence.
The 44 year old singer, who broke through in the early 2000s with hits including "Unwritten" and "These Words," reflected on how performing has evolved during an interview with the BBC.
“[The gigs are] always slightly different and I really get a lot from the audience and the kind of back and forth and a lot of times we'll do a cover that's unique.
“And that's the amazing thing about doing this for 21 years, I'm a better singer now and I don't feel nervous - I feel at home in that environment.
“I'm quite introverted, but on stage I can be a lot more expressive and everything can be bigger.”
Bedingfield also said the message behind her signature hit "Unwritten" perfectly captures the atmosphere she hopes to create during her concerts.
“When people go to my shows, they feel like they want to release their inhibitions.
“They want an experience and they want to feel like their inner child is healed,” she said.
Released in 2004 as the title track from her debut album, "Unwritten" became Bedingfield's third single. It earned her a Grammy Award nomination, reached number six on the UK Singles Chart, and remains her biggest hit in the United States.
This weekend, Bedingfield will perform at the inaugural Halo Festival at Trinity Park in Ipswich, joining a lineup that includes The Vaccines and Two Door Cinema Club. She said she is excited to be part of the event's first edition and help shape its identity.
“You have to set the stage of how the whole [festival] is going to go, because we don't know what the culture is yet [because it is a new festival],” she explained.
“So, I guess Unwritten is kind of the perfect song for that because we don't know what it is going to be like and it depends on who shows up.
“The crowd will say what the festival culture will be.”
In recent years, "Unwritten" has enjoyed a resurgence thanks to its popularity on TikTok and its inclusion in films such as Anyone but You.
Bedingfield has also revealed that the song's origins were influenced by The Beatles. Speaking to The Guardian, she explained that "Unwritten" began as a poem before she developed it with songwriter Danielle Brisebois.
“Unwritten started as a poem. Then I found the right songwriter in Danielle Brisebois - who’d had amazing experiences as a child actor and in the band New Radicals.
“She helped me with the idea that every child is a blank page and can write their own future.
“We recorded it in Venice Beach. For the verse, I had the Beatles’ Indian period in my mind.”
