Sandé possesses a soprano vocal range.
Sandé has said she wants her music to be remembered like that of Nina Simone, one of her favourite artists.
 Sandé was first exposed to Simone at the age of eight, hearing her perform the song "Why?"
after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. After hearing such sorrow yet uplifting lyrics and expression through Simone's performance, Sandé was inspired to have a similar future with her music career.
> She said, as much as she would like, she would never play the piano as well as Simone, but she would give it her best shot.
She loves the songs Simone produced, including "I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free" and Simone's version of "I Think It's Going to Rain Today".
She said that Simone's original songs are very poetic: "So when I listen to commercial stuff at the moment, I’m just thinking ‘haven’t you heard Nina Simone, haven’t you heard how a song should be written?"

Sandé began working in the studio with Naughty Boy in 2009, where the pair first worked together on Chipmunk's debut album, I Am Chipmunk.
She said that she wanted the songs on her debut album to be fresh and she wanted to try and take it back how she wrote songs at the beginning of her career.
Sandé had classical music training as a songwriter in her teens and learnt to play the piano at an early age, and getting across that she played, made and wrote her own music was very important to her.
She said on the album, she wanted people to see every side of her as an artist, so it was important to have songs there where there could be a real connection with the lyric, rather than there just be throwaway pop music.
Joni Mitchell and Lauryn Hill were also major influences for the album.
Sandé possesses a soprano vocal range. Sandé has said she wants her music to be remembered like that of Nina Simone, one of her favourite artists.  Sandé was first exposed to Simone at the age of eight, hearing her perform the song "Why?" after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. After hearing such sorrow yet uplifting lyrics and expression through Simone's performance, Sandé was inspired to have a similar future with her music career. > She said, as much as she would like, she would never play the piano as well as Simone, but she would give it her best shot. She loves the songs Simone produced, including "I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free" and Simone's version of "I Think It's Going to Rain Today". She said that Simone's original songs are very poetic: "So when I listen to commercial stuff at the moment, I’m just thinking ‘haven’t you heard Nina Simone, haven’t you heard how a song should be written?"
Sandé began working in the studio with Naughty Boy in 2009, where the pair first worked together on Chipmunk's debut album, I Am Chipmunk. She said that she wanted the songs on her debut album to be fresh and she wanted to try and take it back how she wrote songs at the beginning of her career. Sandé had classical music training as a songwriter in her teens and learnt to play the piano at an early age, and getting across that she played, made and wrote her own music was very important to her. She said on the album, she wanted people to see every side of her as an artist, so it was important to have songs there where there could be a real connection with the lyric, rather than there just be throwaway pop music. Joni Mitchell and Lauryn Hill were also major influences for the album.
Emeli Sandé