Lissie onstage at TEDGlobal 2013. Photo: James Duncan Davidson

“I started writing songs to be heard, to get attention. In life, being understood is really important to me,” says Lissie in a near-whisper into the microphone. “I write songs to process my emotions, and when we tour it’s cool to see other people process their emotions with my songs.” And with that, she and her band launch into a rocking set in the middle of Session 8 of TEDGlobal. They’ve got a loose and personal singer-songwriter vibe tinged with ’70s rock that’s quite welcome in this idea-dense hour, and Lissie’s great big old rebellious voice carries off these lyrics full of confessional lines.

Lissie. Photo: James Duncan Davidson

For her second song, she starts with a little insight: “I wrote this when I felt overwhelmed,” before launching into this gorgeous song, “Everywhere I Go.” Hear her new single, “Shameless”: