Nearly abandoning his musical career following the breakup of his band the Czars, the US singer-songwriter John Grant went on to find solo success by distilling personal adversity into songs that can be unsparing, poignant and witty – quite often all at the same time. Marc Young caught up with him in London fresh off a UK tour for his latest album Love Is Magic. In the podcast, John discusses why he nearly crashed out of music, how he found his creative bearings again and how learning several foreign languages has affected his songwriting.