Lianne La Havas has the ability to put a chill spell over you.

If the soulful pop musician was feeling any stress toward the end of her tour, I couldn't sense it when she called me from San Francisco, where she'd be playing later that night. The London guitarist, who followed up her critic-beloved debut, 2012's Is Your Love Big Enough?, with Blood in June, has wrapped up her North American dates and is now heading back overseas -- but not before slowing things down on "The Late Show" on Tuesday night.

The traveling doesn't bother La Havas in the least -- in fact, her June release was sculpted by it. Blood, an album about friends, family and identity, was inspired by a trip with her mother to Jamaica, where they soaked up the scene and recorded some songs in Kingston. Other parts of the album were recorded in Los Angeles, New York and in London (with Adele producer Paul Epworth).

La Havas says she just writes what she feels and thinks about -- family. That's something she learned from her father, who's also a musician. And even though they're her parents, since they have a great taste in music, she can see them as "quite harsh critics" -- in a good way of course.

The 26-year-old still has more dates in Europe left, be she was able to talk with us before leaving the U.S. So, put on Blood, get chill, and listen to what she has to say:

What were you doing before you decided to make music?

I was an art student and then I started making music. I briefly worked in a bar. Painting and sculpture and sketching and all that kind of stuff. That's what I used to do.

Does your music reflect your approach to visual art?

When I make a song, I look at it a lot like if I make a drawing or a painting and you kind of look at it at certain stages until it's finished. It's a very similar thing. Depending on your frame of mind, that could change the way you see something or different days or different times of the day. I think the way we receive visual art and music is quite similar.

Perspective is everything. I imagined some of your songs being about a romantic relationship, but a lot of them can be applied to family too. What do you think about when you write?

Basically there's like the most common things that are on my mind and it's the things that I feel most passionate about: my family and my loved ones. So I can't help but write about that stuff because it's always on my mind. There's always something that I want to unravel, to discuss, to that I can feel better about it. But also like if they hear it -- whoever 'they' may be -- it makes them feel good as well. I write a lot of songs to the person. It's always on my mind and it's a very important thing. We must always discuss it.

When you play it to your parents, what do they think?

My mother loved it and felt very emotional and she also just felt proud of me 'cause she loved the actual songs. Both my parents are very much into music, they have great taste. I see them as quite harsh critics. Particularly my dad, I trust his musical opinion because he's also a musician, and my approach to it comes from how he approaches music, which is just to play how you feel. To make yourself feel good. And just find the feeling in it. If he recognizes that in my music and he tells me about it, and he's so so proud and just wanted to jam to it. He plays the saxophone and he always wants to play along with the songs. There was a great reaction across the board.

Ooh -- has your dad played on any of your songs?

He's never played on anything that was released. But when I recorded a few years ago and he was still playing the accordion, he recorded some accordion on one of my songs, but no one will hear that I don't think. I would to get him on something maybe for my next album. It doesn't sound like what you normally expect from a saxophone. He makes it sound like something else. It's not cheesy. It's something quite beautiful and almost like a clarinet. And he harks back to the jazz style of things, not smooth and cheesy. It's very stylish and very soothing.

So do your parents give you feedback on your music?

I'll play for them when it's gotten to a certain point, and they can help me sometimes. My mom says, 'Oh, I don't really like that bit, but I like that bit.' Like what to keep and what to throw away.

What was one of your favorite memories of your trip to Jamaica?

[Recording] "Midnight" -- I absolutely love that song. It was all recorded in Jamaica. It was one of the better things that I've done and I'm just very proud of it. So freely and so easily, and I just happened to be at an amazing studio in Kingston, Jamaica, which I think is one of the coolest cities in the world. I felt very independent and very confident there.

Who dance A LOT in your 'Unstoppable' video. Is that something you've studied before? How do you incorporate it into your shows?

I've never studied it before, but I've always loved it. And that video was a lot more dancing than I first imagined. I was so up for it. As a matter of fact, I do like to try to do a bit. Not the extent that I go to in the video 'cause obviously I'm playing an instrument most of the time, but there's a lot more movement in the show now and it's less standing still. I got another guitarist so if I want to dance, he can just play guitar and I could just dance.

President Obama put you on his summer playlist, which means you've officially made it in the U.S. What's your favorite part of being Stateside?

I love coming here. It's an incredible place it fills me with wonder when I come to the United States. It's interesting to be in another place where you can't live where people live and everybody speaks English but to be from somewhere else. To be a stranger is like really incredible feeling. You can be whoever you want to be. Coming here gives me that feeling. Not like I can't be myself in London -- but it's just so different. It's almost as if you can be more yourself in a place that you don't live in. I got a similar feeing from Jamaica.

Now for the fun:

Hangin' out at home vs. going out at night?

That's a tough one. I love going out at night and hanging at my house in the daytime.

Coffee or tea?

Tea

Justin Bieber or Selena Gomez?

Justin Bieber

Flats or heels?

Heels

Exploring city streets or hiking forest trails?

Hiking forest trails. I love it. I love trees. I think I might move to the forest when I can. I love the city of course, but I love nature. I love silence. I'm getting to that point where I would totally just build a house in the forest.

Would you rather your drummer go missing during the show or your guitar get unplugged mid-performance?

Drummer go missing. I need the guitar. If the guitar's not there, then I can't do anything.

What do you think about most often?

Food!