Lily Allen says she 'needs to live a little'

Lily Allen says she's definitely taking a break from her music career but will be back.

The singer, who won best track at the Q Awards for her single The Fear on Monday afternoon, says she needs time out to gather more material for her songs.

She told Newsbeat: "I'm definitely taking a break. I've been on the road for pretty much five years now. I mean 2005's when I started and it's coming up to 2010 now.

"I'm tired and I've written about everything that has happened in my life in the past 10 years and I feel like maybe I need to live life a little bit more before I start writing again."

Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live later she went into more detail about the reasons behind the break.

She added: "I just think that a lot of people get into a habit of churning out songs and I'm not really into that, I'm into thinking about what I'm writing.

"I'll be back but I just reckon that the world could do with a bit of a break from me and I could do with a bit of a break from it."

Award win

The 24-year-old was among a host of stars at the Q Awards in London and beat off bands like Kasabian and Arctic Monkeys to the best track prize.

She told Newsbeat: "I've never even been to the Q Awards before so it's my first time and I've never won an award for my music so I'm very happy to have an award.

Lily's had a busy summer with gigs at V and Glastonbury

"I work really hard at writing my songs, I'm not going to lie, it doesn't just come out of nowhere.

"I do think about what it is I'm writing about and when it translates and people enjoy it. That's the whole point to me."

Lily's first two albums Alright, Still, which was released in 2006, and this year's It's Not Me, It's You, both went to number one.

In September she revealed on her blog that she had no plans to make another album and would not be renegotiating her contract with EMI.

She's previously been an outspoken critic of illegal file-sharing, labelling it a "disaster".

For now though she says she's also planning on lowering her online profile.

"I've thrown away my computer and my laptop. I'll see how long it lasts," she added.