We head to Abbey Road Studios with the Anglo-Italian troubadour – who performs his latest single “The Other Side of Love”.

You might say Mr Savoretti is rather well acquainted with Abbey Road. He first visited the iconic studio in 2007 when he was asked to record a session for Napster. A few years later, Sir Paul McCartney invited him here to star alongside Mr Tom Ford, Mr Johnny Depp and Ms Kate Moss in his video for “Queenie Eye”. And just two months ago, the London-based folk singer dropped by again. Not with a Beatle this time, but his young daughter. “I’ve got this picture of her standing in the middle of this giant room,” he says of the studio where The Beatles recorded most of their records. “And it really puts into perspective the grandness of the place. Studio Two genuinely changed the world. It changed the society that we live in – the sound of youth and art.”

Talking animatedly after performing for us, it’s clear to see he’s glad to be back. In fact, Mr Savoretti is feeling lucky to be recording music at all. Five years ago – recently married, and with a child on the way – he quit the music industry. With a “rising star” label thrust upon him following debut LP Between the Minds, industry executives sought to cash in on his good looks and effortless song-writing ability. In dispute with his manager, his second album was nearly canned. “When people invest money they want to see it back quickly,” he tells us. “I’d only invested time and music, so I didn’t have the same opinion. If you give too much art and passion and soul, someone’s going to screw you over. You need to take control.”

And take control he did. Although he’s now letting people from the industry influence his music (“The Other Side of Love” – out on 13 April – was co-written with Adele’s musical director Mr Samuel Dixon), he’s determined to continue doing things his own way. “Every album I’ve done has been with independents. People are surprised about what we’ve achieved – and we’ve done it without much at our disposal. It’s genuine,” he says. Last month he and his band sold out the Shepherd’s Bush Empire theatre, and fourth album Written in Scars – released on BMG Chrysalis earlier this year – just missed out on a top 10 chart position.

Succeeding against the odds is something Mr Savoretti is accustomed to. Wanting to honestly represent the themes in “Home” – a rousing track on Written in Scars – he filmed the video at Stadio Luigi Ferraris: the stadium of his family’s local football team, Genoa CFC. It was shot hours before a David and Goliath match against mighty Juventus. “People in Italy are very superstitious. Everyone said I was crazy, and that I was going to be the guy who played there before we lost,” he says. “It was nil-all ’til the 93rd minute. I was upset for the crew – they’d come all this way and there was no result. Then – in the last minute – Genoa scored and we won! After the match people lined up to touch us and take photos. There’s now a ‘Savoretti’ banner in the stadium!” Considering how passionate he is about his roots, it’s a gesture that must mean a lot to him. His grandfather – who helped liberate Genoa from the clutches of Fascism in WWII – is a source of particular pride. “He was head of the Partisans in the Liguria region. He has streets named after him, and statues. It’s nice to go back,” he says, with his headline tour of Italy later this month in mind. “I have a lot of respect from people there.”

Before he leaves us – to perform for his friend Mr Dermot O’Leary at BBC Radio 2 – Mr Savoretti plays another track. It’s an emotional cover of the unreleased Mr Bob Dylan song “Nobody ’Cept You”. “I came across it when I was working at Jackson Browne’s studio in California during a difficult time in my career. That song saved my life,” he says. “It made me re-evaluate people around me. It kept me in a relationship with my wife. I see it as someone who’s involved in the circus [of the music industry] saying, ‘I don’t care about any of this, I care about you’… But I don’t regret any dark times I’ve had. The going down is always worth the going up. Right?”