SINGER songwriter Esther Alexander (pictured above) is inviting readers to grab a cup of coffee and listen to her play live. Her debut studio album, Long Way Home is being fully endorsed by Caffè Nero as its October artist of the month.

Esther’s first café gigs were a couple of years ago, when she was pregnant with her son Eythan.

“The last gig I did before I had him was at Caffè Nero in Camden. I was enormous. All of the staff were like ‘for goodness sake don’t have the baby here!’.”

But Eythan (now a very cute but vocal ten-month-old during our interview) was the inspiration for songs on Esther’s album, including Winter Sun and Little Bird. She appears blissfully happy and this reflects in her music with its smooth magnetic beats and catchy melodies, which are all about love, life, the stars and the sea. She has also recorded a beautiful cover of Fragile which has obtained Sting’s seal of approval.

The album has been produced by Grammy-winning producer Kipper.

“My manager was mates with his, who liked some of my work,”states Esther.

She recalls turning up Kipper’s Surrey studio: “It was a scary day – just because everything inside me hoped that Kipper would want to work with my songs.”

Fortunately, the pair hit it off and wrote Safe House that very day.

“When you’re writing you do feel very vulnerable. All of the lyrics are coming from my heart and sometimes you’re not sure if you’re expressing the sentiment right. I was also halfway through my pregnancy so I was extremely sensitive.

“But Kipper is so down to earth and the great thing about co-writing is that he was there to stop me from binning my ideas.”

You’ve probably heard Esther’s destinctive voice before as backing vocals for Steve Winwood, Ruby Turner and the London Community Gospel Choir. So she’s quite at home singing live.

“I love connecting with people through my music,” enthuses Esther. “Performing in a café is different though because the audience is there for a drink, so I’m really interupting them; but when you see individuals really tuning in, it’s the most magical feeling in the world.”

Esther Alexander performs Thursday, October 22, at the following Caffè Neros: 101 Kilburn High Road, at 11.30am and Jamestown Road, Camden, at 1pm.