Conor Maynard is growing up. His new material digs deeper. It deals with the pressures of whirlwind fame: losing contact with friends, having superficial relationships, the constant travelling.

The first taste is a bitter break-up track penned with grime-pop producer Labrinth. R U Crazy is not due until October, but because Maynard is THE YouTube generation’s music star, it’s already all over the video-sharing site.

Still, as he jokes, “I used to be running the whole YouTube thing. Now everyone is taking over from me.”

The 21-year-old says two years is a long time in the pop industry yet, a few days before SD2, he’s spent the afternoon dressed as a woman.

“It was a weird interview,” he explains, when The Guide catches up with the Can’t Say No singer minutes after he’s left the You Generation studios.

“Let’s just say halfway through I ended up wearing a blond and pink wig.” Maynard’s impression of Jenna Marbles – the YouTube star who has millions of followers for her rants on issues important to young people: Things Boys Don’t Understand, Things Boys Think About During Sex, How Guys Fall Asleep and so on – will no doubt be online soon. “It wasn’t so bad – it was cool going back to my roots, doing the YouTube thing.”

As he enters an autumn of recording, the aim is to get a sound which reflects the fact he is no longer the kid who made it big thanks to viral marketing. The new stuff will “step it up a bit, be more urban, older sounding”. There’s much to do before a second album arrives next spring, but there’s definitely more time booked in New York super producer Timbaland’s studio.

“Timbaland is one of my idols in terms of producers. To work with someone like that is incredible. You want to work with people who have already made a name for themselves. I also like working with up-and-coming producers who haven’t done anything yet. It gives you a new sound like no one else.”

You get the impression that Conor’s mad fans, The Mayniacs, would love anything the Brightonian came out with though.

He gets marriage proposals daily, and they send him all sorts – from Moam sweets to toy pandas. Not all of it is above board though.

“I do get given all sort of weird things. Someone once sent me a JLS condom. I’m always getting underwear thrown on stage but it’s a bit weird when it’s warm.”

Whether the girls would be so keen if they thought he was in a relationship is a different matter. But he’s written so much about break-ups surely one must have worked out?

“I’m probably not going to answer that one. I don’t want to give anything away and break any Mayniacs’ hearts. Let them keep guessing.”

The silence is a personal, not professional decision, he adds. Watch the video to R U Crazy and you’d be forgiven for thinking he’d already found his match, mind. Despite its lyrics – “Labrinth wrote the mean and hurtful ones, honestly, I took the nice ones” – there are some steamy scenes.

“They were really awkward. It’s two people in a bed, but when there are 30 heavily breathing men watching you perform it’s quite intimidating. You don’t normally have a bunch of men standing round for those scenes.”

Nope, Conor. Not unless you’re very unlucky.