Then again, Bareilles has never been one to write on command. Her first single back in 2007, which had the tongue-in-cheek title Love Song, was her witty refusal to write the love song that her label had asked for. Meanwhile, her last album was largely inspired by her dismay in the wake of the 2016 US election that saw Donald Trump assume the presidency for his first term.

Her next album, she says, will be driven by the theme of grief. “I’m noticing in the writing that’s gathered over these last, you know, five or six years, it’s really a lot about grief,” she says. “I think people are feeling a lot of grief right now for a lot of different reasons – not just loss of life, but looking at what’s happening in our country right now and the breakdown of our political system. So, this record really feels like it’s about grief to me – I know that sounds like a lot of fun to listen to!”

Apparently, Bareilles isn’t through with the tearjerkers just yet. But in spite of it all, she is still trying to find glimmers of light in the darkness – the beauty in the pain. This year, she plans to tie the knot with Tippet. “We need joy and celebration and connection and community, which, to me, that’s what marriage is really about,” she says, her face lighting up once again when I ask about her wedding plans. “It’s the calling together of the people you love the most to bear witness to a union. It’s beautiful – the ritual is so beautiful to me. Yeah, I think community is the medicine.”

“I was looking at my life and not recognising myself”: Sara Bareilles on bringing Waitress to the screen and writing new music after a mental health reckoning