An authentic artist

GOAL: INSPIRING PEOPLE TO BE THEIR BEST VERSION

- Hein Kaiser

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, with a healthy measure of modernity.

There's no formula to Ziggy Alberts' music. Sometimes the songs arrive fully formed, other times they start with a melody over coffee or a thought that needs unpacking, he said.

"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."