Paolo Nutini couldn't deal with the pressures of fame at the start of his career, and so turned his back on the business.
The 'Candy' singer, who is set to make a comeback with his third album 'Caustic Love' in April, fled back to his Scottish homeland four years ago when being in the spotlight became too much to bear.
He told Q Magazine: "It all got a little bit intense and heavy.
"By all rights I should have been used to it - but I never got used to it.
"Then I took a step back and had a listen to myself and some of the things I was moaning about - certain pressures that became an issue.
"It only takes going home for a little while to put these things into perspective."
The 26-year-old was catapulted into the limelight after the release of his debut album 'These Streets' in 2006, which was inspired by his high school sweetheart Teri Brogan.
The pair split after 10 years in March last year and it could well be that his on-off relationship with Teri has sparked some more creativity.
He came out of his four-year hiatus to perform at Hyde Park for the Olympic opening ceremony in 2012 and says he is now ready to get his music career back on track.
The singer has been going for long walks and even studied survival techniques but admitted to smoking cannabis during time spent recording in Los Angeles.
He said: "LA was wild. I've never seen so much marijuana being smoked. I mean, I've always enjoyed a smoke, but wow. There's something dangerous when your munchies are giving you the munchies."
Paolo says he's now in the right frame of mind to release new material and tour again.
He added: "Hopefully, if I've got an audience, I just want to have that conversation with them again with the songs."
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