Danish singer Agnes Obel shook things up on her latest record – with help from eBay.

Third album Citizen of Glass features several instruments she’s never used before, including ones she hunted for on the online auction site, and others she secured from museums in Germany, where she now lives.

“Some of them were very high level recordings of instruments I couldn’t get myself,” explains Agnes, who plays the O2 ABC tonight.

“The guy who is the caretaker for the museum they are in plays them and you can buy samples online – he actually called me up to make sure these were the sounds I was wanting! Then there were other ones that came through looking around on eBay.

“Things like the celesta or the trautonium came that way. I got the trautonium (a large metal keyed synthesiser) from a guy in Germany, who was remaking them from the original manuals of Oskar Sala. He is the guy who really developed the instrument, so it’s exactly like the original.”

The result is a record that moves the 36-year-old’s sound in a different direction, after her first two albums, Philharmonics and Aventine, put her on the map with beautiful, intense songs and a stunning voice.

Although the album was recorded, like the previous two, in Agnes’ home studio, she tried a host of new ideas, with plenty of loops, strings and multi-layered vocals. The only problem with that approach is trying to take it on the road…

“The vocals have been the biggest thing, because I had so much going on with them and with different effects,” she says.

“I couldn’t bring any of the old keyboards on tour, and there were also basic things like looping the strings, because I don’t have a budget for bringing a whole orchestra on tour! So I’m relying on these loops and intricate parts, which wasn’t easy, but I’m really happy with how it has turned out.”

A softly-spoken and philosophical woman, Agnes was inspired for the new album by reading an article about the German concept of gläserner berger, or glass citizen, which looks at how much people now share details about their lives everywhere.

As the song Trojan Horse deals with, this is a concept Agnes has her doubts about.

“I think we live in a time that everything is about revealing the self,” she says.

“I love those albums where you are in the mind of the writer but it is not something I feel 100% about myself, because I am quite a private person. There’s something strange going on, that I found when making my own albums.

“What you have in your songs is that you’re figuring out things about yourself when you write, and then you are revealing that process to everybody. You can feel quite exposed doing this. I can be overwhelmed with paranoia when my music is released, and I would love it if there was more mystery about how it all works. There’s still stuff in my music I won’t have revealed to anyone, not even my family or my partner, and then suddenly it’s out there for everybody.”

Among those hearing her music was David Lynch, the famously creative film and TV mastermind. He remixed her tune Fuel To Fire a few years but Agnes hasn’t been able to nab a part in the director’s Twin Peaks revival yet.

“Unfortunately he’s not offered me anything,” she laughs.

“I would have said yes, but I guess he can chose from everybody he wants! I’m a huge fan, I’m still psyched out by the whole remix thing.”

She’s also pretty psyched about her Glasgow return tonight.

“I played the Captain’s Rest a few years ago, down in the basement,” she says, mentioning the now closed venue.

“I loved that place. I’ve got friends there too, because my friend Hannah’s boyfriend is from Glasgow. It’s a city I know well and I always like shows there.”

Agnes Obel, O2 ABC, tonight, £18.50, 7pm