JOSH Pyke is quietly thrilled.
His sixth studio album Rome was released on August 28 and debuted at No.8 on the ARIA charts.
"I wanted this record to be received well and to chart," Pyke says. "It's not my main focus but it's certainly something that I strive for.
"But I'm also an artist that doesn't get played on commercial radio so to achieve a chart result like that, it really comes down to the relationship that I have with my core fan base.
"It was about contacting them directly and saying, 'Here is my new album, you can buy it on vinyl, you can buy it as a CD, you can stream it, whatever', and catering for them directly instead of thinking, 'Oh, I need to get on the radio, I had better write a pop hit'.
"I just write what I write, and then try to service my core fan base as best I can."
It's a strategy that has served him well over the years.
From his first appearance in triple j's Hottest 100 with Middle Of The Hill coming in at No.19 in 2005, to the 2017 release of his greatest hits album The Best of Josh Pyke + B Sides and Rarities, Pyke has been a part of the Australian music landscape for more than a decade.
Songs like Memories & Dust, The Lighthouse Song and The Summer have come to symbolise the Australian 2000s indie-folk scene.
His latest collection of songs stay true to the signature Pyke melodies and harmonies and, as always, tell a story.
It's the 42-year-old's first new studio album since 2015's But for All These Shrinking Hearts.
"I can't write from any place other than from personal experience and my own views of the world and what's going on," he says.
"The reason I took so long between albums, and took the time off from the road, is that I started having very bad anxiety issues, really full-on panic attacks, and it was stopping me from touring and really affecting my life.
"So a lot of the issues that had manifested themselves in this anxiety is what the album is about. Where it was born."
Moody and introspective, Rome touches on themes of love, loss, acceptance, doubt, anxiety, growth and what "home" really is.
"Rome started as an album for me, as a way to process things I don't know how else to deal with," he says.
"It's entered the world during a tough time for us all, but I don't want that to define this record.
"I think Rome is my best work, and I want it to flourish, to have a life of its own, and to reach as many people as possible."
While personal, Pyke's lyrics are also open to interpretation.
The reason I took so long between albums, and took the time off from the road, is that I started having very bad anxiety issues, really full-on panic attacks, and it was stopping me from touring and really affecting my life.
Josh Pyke
"I try to make my songs universal enough so that people get a sense of the themes that are going on, but it's not like reading pages out of my diary," he says.
"I like that my output is open to interpretation - that's what makes good art.
"The all roads lead to Rome reference is more of a metaphor, thinking of ourselves as an entity that needs to look itself in the eyes to avoid the mistakes of the past.
"A situation we are not dealing with that we have to deal with, or it will keep coming back.
"We can't escape who we are, and unless we face it and evolve, we risk becoming ruined civilisations."
Latest single I Thought We Were A River is about accepting life for all its flaws and taking control of it. The video was worked from conception to completion by Lisa Vertudaches, the winner of Pyke's Leg-Up Project.
He enlisted an up-and-coming talent that had faced challenges during COVID-19 to help create an animation for the track.
"The arts in this country have been underfunded forever, and I just reckon if there's a chance to do something in a small way, it would be remiss of me not to, since I was the beneficiary of a leg up when I started out," he explains.
"It was awesome to be able to provide an opportunity for a fellow creative during this time, and she's done a stellar job."
To coincide with the release of his album, Pyke collaborated with Crowbar in Sydney to release his very own Rome shiraz, which is available to order now.
As for touring, it is very much a case of wait and see.
"COVID is the biggest thing that's happened in most of our lives, on a global scale, but even beyond that, it's just a very troubling time," Pyke says.
"I feel like we've been on the cusp of sliding down into the quagmire since 2016 and COVID has just accelerated that in some ways, definitely in America.
"Early on I was encouraged by the relatively-quick Australian response that was JobKeeper, but the thing i keep pointing out is that the response is coming from a very, very low baseline.
"Whatever they're doing is coming from a place of having done less than nothing beforehand."
Josh Pyke will perform at Lizotte's on November 6 and 29 and perform two shows at the Lambton venue on December 6.
