'[A few years ago] my grandmother passed away and there was a long-term relationship that broke up,' says David, who has sold more than 13 million albums worldwide.

'I thought I was talking about things that were a lot older than I was. Most of my friends were just clubbing and hanging out together and going through the motions, but I was talking about great break-ups and grandma passing away.

'I want to make this album feel like it represents you being 26 years old.'

At 19, David was the youngest Briton to have a No. 1 hit on the music charts. So he is happy to remind us of his age as a defence against the decline in record sales - Born To Do It (2001) sold seven million copies; Slicker Than Your Average (2002, 3.5 million) and The Story Goes... (2005, two million).

'The industry has changed. [To sell] seven million albums, for any big artist nowadays, is a real phenomenon,' says David.

'When I released my first album, it was still the era when people would buy CDs and vinyls were also part of the whole thing.

'To be honest, I look at it accumulatively. [To have] 13 million records sold, to be 26 years old and to be here with my fourth album. That's all that counts for me right now.'

According to David, it's more difficult for musicians to sell their songs now, unless they are catchy, easy-on-the-ear tunes. The days of brilliant concept albums or dark and moody songs are apparently over.

'It's very difficult to make [these kind of] albums right now,' he says. 'It's much more fast food now. People want Big Macs and fries ... they don't want to wait around for some long cuisines.'

Not surprisingly, there's nothing 'long' on Trust Me, an 11-track album of bouncy, energetic music that gets you dancing or singing along right away - from the catchy Hot Stuff (Let's Dance) to the melodic Officially Yours. Almost every number can stand out on its own.

Under this concept, David says, if people download more than six or seven songs from a new record, they may as well buy the whole album because it would be cheaper.

'Obviously as an artist you want to make a [coherent] body of work,' he says. 'But the way of downloading music now puts a little bit more pressure - and I think it is a good thing - so that the artist has to make an album of great songs, and each song in isolation could be a single.'

The R&B prince says he is no longer worried about album sales. At the moment, it's all about performing live and travelling around the world.

'The world tour starts early next year and I would love to come and play here [in Hong Kong],' says David.

'As an artist, you want to play in every country. It's the least you could do to give back to the people who support you.'