Grammy-nominated British singer-songwriter Corinne Bailey Rae has revealed she became fixated on the grieving process in the months after her husband died.
She spent a good part of her day simply resting and, when she felt like it, taking walks or spending time with loved ones.
She said she was also confused, in a haze, not knowing how to go forward after the destiny she thought she had was forever altered.
"I'm not familiar with that kind of shock that lasts all that amount of time," the 30-year-old recalled. "It just sort of takes ages to sink it. You feel it and then you don't feel it; you know what's happened and then you don't really know what happened. ...
"Somebody wrote me a letter saying that you need to surrender to it, which I was like, 'Well, how do I surrender?'"
While Bailey Rae still has not come to terms with her loss, she has determined that the grieving process is unique and different for everyone.
And for her, it included channelling her emotions into her music. The result is her touching, tender new album, The Sea, started before the death of her husband but finished more than a year later.
"There are other people that have had these similar experiences ... all different kinds of loss, and I feel like a lot of people don't really sing about it in popular music," said an upbeat, reflective Bailey Rae during a recent interview.
"I want to be that one voice that is saying that this is also a human experience that is worth making music about."