Natalie Imbruglia: I had a 'semi-nervous breakdown' working with Chris Martin

Natalie Imbruglia has joked that collaborating with Chris Martin was hard work. The Australian singer has recorded material written by the Coldplay frontman, 32, for her new album.

'When I worked with Chris Martin he was very honest and brutal with me,' Natalie, 34, tells NME. 'He helped me with my tracklisting and we got rid of riff-raff. Sometimes we agreed, sometimes we disagreed... the hard bit is him saying which songs he doesn't like, but it's refreshing to have someone of that calibre with you. So yes - I had a semi-nervous breakdown.'

Meanwhile, Natalie Imbruglia suffered a technical hitch during her V Festival slot at Staffordshire yesterday afternoon (August 22). The singer, who arrived onstage dressed in a black sparkly dress to a packed Arena tent, was greeted with huge chants of "We can't hear you," as she attempted to sing new track 'WYUT' blissfully unaware there was no sound coming from her mic.

Imbruglia then walked offstage once she was informed of the technical hitch, staying backstage for five minutes while the crowd bellowed: "You're not singing anymore." When she eventually came back onstage she apologised to the throng that had gathered and said: "I think we had a false start. Don't have an issue with me and I won't have an issue with you."

More discussion on the Chris Martin / Natalie Imbruglia collaboration is at the Coldplay forum here onwards [thanks lostsides]

New pictures of Coldplay at Koengen, Bergen, Norway (19th August 2009):