But I think that where I’m going with it is where the scariest part was like, ‘Oh, OK. But then not going into an actual studio and even doing a photo shoot or doing a video shoot was really weird. It’s a sick house, but that part was fine, where it was just me and him. I don’t want to talk shit about his place. A lot of it was written in Sam’s place, which is a converted garage. I had to go through them, and almost write those songs to get to these ones out. They were cool vibes, but … none of them are on the album now. So for a while, I was writing a bunch of songs that were cool. I was just writing on my own, and I’m trying to get better at producing. On working on a solo project: “At the start, I was writing just on my own for it and then met Sam. Even more than me sometimes, but he was like, ‘No, it shouldn’t be here. was like, ‘No, we should do it like this.’ Because he’s so passionate. There were 15 different track lists that I was listening through. Every little decision - I’m quite the over-thinker - I had the luxury of going through every little thing, even the track list. So for this, when it’s just me, and the same with the writing process and the production process, it was just me and him. And there’s a lot more moving parts, I suppose.

In the band, obviously you have three other people. So because it was only us two, it’s actually quite different for me. On working with Sammy Witte: “It was very much me and one other person, obviously Sierra’s on two songs, but a lot of it was me and the producer Sammy Witte. Even, like you said, come out the other side and be, I don’t know, definitely more appreciative, and have such a deeper understanding of my inner psyche, I guess.” But being in one place and being able to make something, whether it was on my own or with the band, even just being able to figure it out and come out the other side of it. I still haven’t been, which is a bummer, and all of that sucks.

Again, it was such a shitty time for so many people, but for me to be at home with Sierra and with my dog and in one place, although it was obviously really hard not to go to Australia. On how he felt during 2020 and COVID: “It’s hard because I feel like every new year should be one of the best years because you make of it what you make of it. Summing all the thoughts and the sounds and all of that stuff up. So this was the closest thing to summing it all up. There are bits and pieces that relate to other things in the album because it is quite sonically diverse, I guess. But I think sonically, it’s what a first step forward should be from an album. Obviously, the lyrical content is a great starting point and sums up a lot of what the album is about. And this one has a bit of everything on the album.

On choosing “Starting Line” as the first single: “There’s a couple of ballads, but I tend to write slower songs instinctually. Plus, check out our exclusive behind-the-scenes video from the photo shoot in Los Angeles. We had such a good time with Luke Hemmings while working on our cover story this summer that we thought we’d give you even more! Ahead, you’ll find more snippets from his interview that didn’t make the final cut but were too good to keep to ourselves.

Luke hummings naked pose