Following the release of Club Sodade*, a compilation of DJ remixes of Cesaria's finest, the barefoot diva returns centre stage this month with an album that mines the same rich vein as her early work. Enjoyed Miss Perfumado? Then you'll love Voz d'Amor, a collection of forgotten classics by some of Cap Verde's best composers. Not everyone has looked on Cesaria's international success with a happy eye, however. Indeed, several attempts have been made to cash in on her success. The latest claim comes from Armando Zeferino, a 73-year-old musician from the island of San Nicolau, who recently brought a court case against Cesaria accusing her of plagiarising the song Sodade. A calamity for fans! Cesaria's last three albums have now been withdrawn from sale in Cap Verde.

Cesaria's lightning rise to fame does not appear to have gone to her head. In between tours you'll find the international diva travelling back to Mindelo, her home base on Sao Vicente (where we hooked up with her). Ciz, as she is known at home, likes to recharge her batteries sitting on her veranda of an evening, receiving visits from locals in need. But then that's exactly what you'd expect from the unofficial banker of Sao Vicente!

RFI Musique: Do you feel you ever had the potential to follow in Billie Holiday's footsteps, letting your life be ravaged by drugs and alcohol? Or has success helped you break free from all that?
Cesaria Evora: Well, I was certainly criticised for my drinking habit at one point, but at that stage of my life I wanted to drink so I did. Then one day I decided to quit and I quit. Now I feel like smoking and I smoke how I want to – even if that means chain smoking when I'm in the mood! I do as I please. I can smoke 100 cartons of cigarettes if I feel like it; it's my life! I have to admit I lost a bet with my manager recently, though. I told him I was going to give up smoking in Cuba and one day he walked in and caught me with a lit cigarette in my hand just like a stupid kid. I lost my Mercedes, you know, the Mercedes I'd dreamt about having ever since I was a kid.

Don't you get tired of all your non-stop world tours sometimes?
Yes, I'm tired, I'm so worn out and weary I could die (laughs). That's why I don't move around the stage much, you know. I'm not a dancer, I'm a singer and as I'm a singer who's got problems with her feet my movements are pretty limited. But even moving a little bit, you can't imagine how I suffer. The show's an hour and a half long and I only get one break when the musicians do an instrumental number. That's the only point where I get to sit down, put my feet up and have a glass of water and a quick cigarette. But I'm going to ask my manager to get my feet serviced, you know, get them replaced with a good rubber pair. I don't see why cars should be the only things that get their tyres changed!

What does it mean to you to have become an ambassadress for your country. You're more famous than the president of Cap Verde these days!
Well, I've been made an official ambassadress of the World Food Programme. And I'm ready and willing to do whatever I can to help children and old people in need. But, frankly, these days I'm on the look-out for someone to look after me!

The Cap Verdean government recently paid their own tribute to you, issuing a stamp with your head on. How does that feel?
No, it's not me on the stamp, it must be my long-lost sister from Marseilles! Frankly, I don't think they've made that good a job of the stamp. It looks nothing like me! But I'm happy with the idea of being on a stamp because fans can stick my head on the envelope when they write to their friends. I like the idea of travelling around like that!

Do you manage to recharge your batteries when you go back to Mindelo?
Coming home means touching base with people again and letting go of the feeling of homesickness that's built up during months of touring. It means seeing my children and my two grandchildren and getting together with all my old girlfriends again, visiting the places where I used to hang out and do concerts for free. I like to go back there now, sit in my car and give a little wave from the distance. People in Mindelo have always been really supportive of me, both before and after I made it, so it's only normal to turn round and give something back in return for what they gave me during my lean periods.

On the new album there's a song produced by Teofilo Chantre and his father about the condition of women in Cap Verde. This seems to be a theme that's particularly close to your heart…
The song you're talking about is a song for women, but not all women because I have to say there are some women who have it easier than others. There are still women where I live who carry their children round on their backs. Cap Verde has become a two-level society these days. You've got people who've got everything, they live the way people in Europe do, and others who live the same way people did here 50 years ago. I've had my own share of troubles in my life but I always managed to put food on the table for the kids. Music was the road to emancipation for me. It introduced me to a world where men and women have the same rights. I'm lucky in that my life has changed thanks to the success I've had with my singing.

Where does Voz d'amor (The Voice of Love), the title of your new album come from?
It's for lovers, for men and women in love everywhere, but not for me because I've never had a great love. The songs on this album are for lovers, not for me.

Have you got to the point where you feel all your childhood dreams have come true?
Like all Cap Verdeans I live on a diet of hope. I live today for today and wait to see what tomorrow will bring. I never know what the future holds.

What's your fondest memory?
Having had so much success abroad after being rejected in my homeland. I did so many concerts in Cap Verde but things never got off the ground. A lot of wonderful things have happened to me since, but I'll never ever forget that.

Are there any singers you particularly enjoy listening to?
Well, there's a singer who's set to ensure the next generation in Cap Verde and that's Mayra Andrade who performed at the "Baïa das Gatas" festival recently. I also really like Lura. She's a singer who does more of an r'n'b style thing in Lisbon. And talking of Portugal, Amalia Rodrigues also made a huge impression on me when I was last there.

Your albums always seem to be recorded on quick breaks in between tours. Can you ever imagine spending two solid months in the studio recording?
Well, what happened this time round was mid-way through the tour we moved into a house in Montreuil so we could all rehearse together. We we