Will Young has claimed he called his album 85% Proof because it’s proof that he is good – although he still gets plenty of stick from other people.

The former Pop Idol winner is releasing his new album as a declaration of how talented he thinks he is.

He said: “Everything from the title on is really confident. Proof is a really interesting word. But it is proof that I am good.

Will Young 85% Proof
Will Young’s new album cover (PA)

“And I can say that and it doesn’t mean I am arrogant. I have my insecurities, of course I do, but I am happy to say I think I’m good at what I do. I’ve been doing it long enough, my God, so I have to think that. I can’t say to people, ‘Buy this record. I wouldn’t, but you should’. You have to believe in yourself, and your product.”

He admitted that he’d felt the pressure of promoting the album more this time: “It’s all out of my hands. There aren’t many TV shows to do, so that has changed. The industry is very different from when I started. I called my dad the other day and I was saying I didn’t know what to do, but he said he’d heard my song on the radio and told me to relax. That’s all I can do, I suppose.”

Will added that despite his confidence, he still found strangers were quick to offer criticism.

Will Young
Will Young (PA)

Saying that his new songs were cheerful, he went on: “It’s funny, though. I went to the dry cleaner the other day and she said, ‘Will, I’ve got to talk about your lyrics, it’s so sad!’ So people take from the songs what they want.

“That lady is like my marker for my career. I’ve just done a video and when she saw it, she said, ‘Will, I’ve got to talk about your video. Where is your head at? Where was your head at when you wrote that song?’

“People think they can say whatever they want to me. ‘You look older’, or, ‘You look skinny’. ‘I didn’t like your last song’, ‘What the hell are you wearing?’, or even, ‘Oi, Gareth Gates!’. I get it all. But after all this time, I’m used to it and I’ve got a very thick skin.”

85% Proof is released on May 25. Visit www.willyoung.co.uk.