“I never have nothing to work on,” says Shears, in what may be the understatement of the year. “Having so many projects can be exhausting and a little overwhelming and, while I have to make sure I’m not spreading myself too thin, I love having different stuff going on, whether it’s a musical or a record or a book, because it works different parts of your brain.
“I also don’t like to write alone, so everything I do is a collaboration, whether it’s a Scissors album or a solo record,” he adds. “Being creative is working with other people. The main difference is I fully get to call the shots and, at the end of the day, I alone have to stand behind everything. I’ve worked hard to make sure it’s something I love.
“In that way, I feel like my two solo albums are the most cohesive things I’ve ever made,” Shears continues. “They have solid visions as pieces of work because it’s coming from one person - it’s not better or worse and it’s always fun to have that back-and-forth and to fight for songs you really believe in, but the solo albums are just different in their own right.
“What’s different about this record is that it isn’t attached to a time and place - it started with a song I did with Kylie called Voices which I’d had in my back pocket for a long time, so I wanted to build a world for this song. In the end, the album was made in LA, Laguna Beach, New York, London, New Orleans, and Lisbon.”