I like the fervor of religious music, the zealous aspect - that preachers can go from a conversational cadence into this passionate singing.

I started growing roses. I enjoyed the craft of it and that they're difficult to look after; they can provide joy.

I was definitely inspired by gospel music, or old-school R&B; I got into some Good God gospel compilations.

If you can express something in the simplest way possible, I think there's something noble in that. It's easy to flesh stuff out and get all purple with it, being cryptic and wearing masks... I think it's a bit adolescent. I wanted to write in a way that was vulnerable. I wanted to have courage in stripping back the opaque stuff so it was just raw. I like lyrics that are a lifeline, that have a purpose to them and are not just meandering around in a masturbatory way. They cut the page.

I'm appalled by the tendency of some rock records to perfect everything to the point where it sounds like Botox and polish it so heavily that there's no humanity left in it.

I like simple writing. I'd rather read Hemingway than Burroughs.

Music was my friend when I was a teenager, and I would inhabit and take comfort in lyrics. That's how I want to write.