TRAVIS COLLINS has launched an album he didn't even know he was creating.
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When the Golden Guitar Award winning artist took to all different studios across the world to record songs which came to him and he didn't want to forget, he was unknowingly putting together what would become Wreck Me.
"It's an album that we didn't realise we were making at the time, I was simply heading into different songwriting periods around the place - some in Nashville, some in Sydney, some here in the Hunter Valley where I live," he said.
"Whenever I felt like I had a song that I couldn't ignore ... I had to make sure my ideas were all locked down on a record.
"I thought they were just for me."
The unconventional approach has paid off in Collins' view.
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He said he was proud of the finished product.
"You do everything purely for the song - you do it because it feels good and it sounds good, you don't do it for the commercial aspects of it," he said.
After ending up with a "bank" of a dozen or so songs, Collins' manager prompted him to take a listen.
"One thing that was really evident was that ... all the songs all sound really, vastly, completely different to each other and usually I would scare away from something like that but this time I was like 'let's do it'," he said.
Wreck Me isn't just unique in its creation, it has a unique sound to it as well.
Collins' said he has felt pressure in the past to bring in big stars to play in the band when recording an album, but this time, it was mostly done live with his own crew.
"I had my band guys come in - who are every bit as good, it's just a different approach - so everything was more relaxed," he said.
"I'm really proud of it and I think you can hear the friendships and fun being had."
Collins started out busking on the streets of Tamworth as an 11-year-old boy, but now has seven Golden Guitars to his name and three studio albums.
From back when he started songwriting, Collins said his favourite song is Desperado by The Eagles.
Now, he's done his own rendition of the old favourite with his band, and it's found its way onto Wreck Me.
"To be honest if I knew we were going to be releasing it I probably would have talked myself out of it," he said.
"You only get to record your favourite song one time."
The album was released on Friday while the world still grapples with the coronavirus crisis.
"It's been good to have something to focus on during this period ... it's been a bit of a saving grace actually."