Ziggy Alberts New Love

That title is no accident: Ziggy Alberts’ seventh album indeed celebrates love in multiple forms, from the importance of self-care to the invigorating rush of fresh romance. The Sunshine Coast singer-songwriter co-produced New Love with Garrett Kato, the same collaborator behind his double-platinum 2018 album Laps Around the Sun as well as Tones And I’s global smash “Dance Monkey”. Fans of Jack Johnson and Vance Joy should appreciate Alberts’ galloping guitar strum and beachy folk airs, while he also cites Jose Gonzalez and Nick Mulvey as particular sources of inspiration for “Where Does the Love Go?”. He also knows when to mix things up, swapping over to soft keyboards for the closing “Singing for Country”, a ballad about the peace of being back on country. Sampling the laughlike call of a kookaburra—which he identifies as his spirit bird—the track mentions overheard song lines and the unique joy of connecting with a specific place. As successfully as Alberts may wrangle his brisk guitar work on the title track and elsewhere, hearing him switch to a different lead instrument recaptures the listener’s attention as he pours out his heart one more time.