Overview

• At an Oct. 1 conversation at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles, the 35-year-old artist discussed how feeling "broken" shapes his songwriting and connection with listeners.
• He said he is doing the work to put the pieces back together yet worries that healing could blunt the authenticity that drives his writing.
• Reflecting on the gap since his previous album, he admitted he felt unimpressed by his newer lyrics when life was going well, saying "out of torment comes good content."
• He disclosed spending last Christmas in rehab, where he filled a red notebook with late-night entries, a period referenced in his song Treading Water.
• He described a manifestation ritual of writing goals and burning them on a new moon, and he is promoting his Aug. 8 release Lost Americana.