Local Valley feels brighter and more inclusive than your previous work. Apart from becoming a father, what else has changed since your last album?
Becoming a father is probably the main reason, but I’ve been feeling that with each year I have fewer reasons to be obscure or enigmatic. Style-wise I feel comfortable with what I’m doing, enough to feel free to add more influences to my palette. Regarding the lyrics, I’ve been finding frames for thinking about difficult topics. So the challenge has been less about finding things to say and more about trying to make poetry of the ideas I encounter in the books I read.