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Storytelling talent: Australian singer Ziggy Alberts. Image Supplied.
So chilled. So nice. With a lot of depth. It’s unusual these days but kind of expected from an artist like Ziggy Alberts.
He’s just released his seventh studio album called New Love, and it’s all that it’s cracked up to be. And more.
This Aussie-based singer-songwriter makes music like they used to. That is, with a healthy measure of modernity.
There’s no formula to Ziggy Alberts’ music, he said.
Sometimes the songs arrive fully formed, other times they start with a melody over coffee or a thought that needs unpacking.
“Sometimes I write a song because something big has happened in my life, and sometimes it’s just a melody that comes to me while I’m drinking coffee or driving,” he said.
“The musical side is spontaneous, but the writing is more structured. I have something to say, and I try to break it down into different anecdotes. But still… it’s a mystery to me.”
Inspiration, he believes, can be fleeting. It’s there for the taking, but if you hesitate, someone else might catch it first.
“You can’t postpone inspiration,” he said. “If you do, someone else gets the song. If it’s floating by, you might as well grab it.”
His influences are as diverse as his sound. Alberts grew up with Destiny’s Child and Salt-N-Pepa playing in the background, courtesy of his mum, while his dad spun James Taylor and The Eagles.
Later, Jack Johnson and Ben Howard became major touchpoints.
“Ben Howard had a massive influence on me,” he said. “But around 2015, I found my own way.”
The title track of New Love was one of the first songs written for the album. It marked a line in the sand in both his personal and creative life.
“I wrote New Love just before things started getting better in my life,” he said. “Through the process of writing, I found more discipline, more peace. These past couple of years have been the best of my life.”
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Music has always had the power to shift culture. Alberts thinks it should unite rather than divide. “We don’t need more polarising views,” he said.
“Music should recognise our shared human experience. If we can create songs that encourage people to treat each other better, to look past their differences, then we’re doing something right.”
Honesty comes naturally, even if it leaves him exposed, he said.
“Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon once described songwriting as an excavation,” he said.
“It’s easier to be honest in music than in real life. We all want to be understood, and writing music allows me to express things I might struggle to say otherwise.”
“The only reason anyone should listen to music,” he added and included his work in the same equation, “is if it makes them happy or inspires them to be the best version of themselves.
If this album does that, then that’s the greatest success I could ask for.”
Musically, he believes in authenticity. His music is stripped back, real, and refuses to be polished into something artificial.
“Music today often doesn’t feel real. That’s because a lot of it isn’t,” he said. “You can create a whole song using AI. That’s not to say it’s right or wrong, but it’s different from what I do. I’m passionate about making something that’s imperfect, something that’s human.”
He remembered a time when recordings were about capturing a moment. “It used to be about capturing a moment,” he said.
“Now it’s about recording for the sake of recording and then producing it into something else entirely. There’s probably a mistake in that.”
Sixty thousand songs are uploaded to Spotify daily. That’s great for the discovery of artists and their work, but it also means music comes and goes faster than ever.
“It’s a double-edged sword,” he said. “There’s so much new music, which is amazing, but the lifespan of a hit has never been shorter. You can go viral, but if people don’t connect with your full catalogue, then what’s the point?”
Alberts said he sees too much music being created purely to fit an algorithm, rather than to tell real stories.
“Maybe we’re making a mistake by creating music purely to chase trends,” he said.
“More music should be driven by values, by truth. If we can make music that’s rooted in something real, that’s when it can truly make a difference.”
This is why Alberts isn’t interested in being a one-hit wonder.
“I don’t want to go viral,” he said. “I want to build an audience that’s invested in my music beyond one song. The people who come to my shows, they care about my entire catalogue. That’s real success.”
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