Stu Larsen’s Solitude Follows A Year Of Writing Around The World

Solitude is Stu Larsen's latest work that takes the nomadic life the Australian singer-songwriter lived and turns it into a full creative project that spanned twelve months, twelve locations and twelve songs. Having lived without a permanent residence for almost two decades, Stu has always brought travel into his music. But Solitude takes this a step further by making each place part of the album's writing process instead of being just a mere backdrop for the songs.

Throughout 2024, Stu Larsen traveled across New Zealand, Australia, Indonesia, Scotland, England, Austria, Germany, Italy, Canada, the U.S.A and Argentina, having spent a month in each location to write a song and film an accompanying performance video. The result is an album that reflects the artist's need to disconnect from the world, especially his laptop, phone and online life and contemplating being alone with his thoughts, playing the guitar and allowing the songs to unfold naturally without distractions of everyday life.

Solitude comes after Vagabond, Resolute and Marigold as a natural continuation of Stu's career since it connects the way he lives to the way he writes. Songs like "Misty Morning", "Xanadu", "Shelter", "If I Get It Right" and "Eden" all highlight specific places and moments, giving the album a personal feel without compromising on the wider sense of movement that has always been an integral part of Stu Larsen's work.

The Twelve Month Writing Process Behind Solitude

Stu Larsen's writing process for Solitude dates back to the way he's always approached music creation while constantly being on the move. From his Vagabond era, he detailed how traveling provided the foundation for his ideas, his tracks and the overall direction of his album but that he needed to process these for three to four weeks before they eventually became meaningful songs. Solitude has more context based on this, since it's not something new but it's a structure Stu Larsen has been following for years.

However, the difference with Solitude is that the processes followed a clearer timeline since Stu gave himself a month across each location which meant that he wasn't just passing by a place and writing about it later, but focused on actually living within that environment long enough for the song to take form based on what he observed, felt and thought during that time. Stu has previously reflected on how staying in an isolated place might not always yield songwriting results, as sometimes the artist finds himself just listening to nature, simply reading or taking in the quiet before finding the motivation to pick up the guitar. With Solitude, those slower moments add to the album's purpose. Each month in each location gave him time to disconnect from normal distractions and let the tracks grow from a place of stillness instead of forcing their direction.

The choice that Stu Larsen made to stay in each place for a month adds to how the songs provide a narrative across Solitude about the choices one makes to be alone instead of tying the album to just one story and mood. "Misty Morning" is the start of the album. It comes from a period where Stu Larsen spent time in New Zealand, confined to a tiny one-bedroom cottage he discovered years earlier during a random detour. Being amidst nature such as the mountains and river gave motivation and inspiration to write about the beginning and end of a potential relationship.

"Xanadu" continues that emotional thread but from Tasmania where Stu resided in a house filled with huntsman spiders while coming to terms with the fact that the relationship he touched upon in "Misty Morning" was no longer going to happen. "Shelter" takes a different approach as the album moves away from romance into a more supportive tone since this song was written during Stu Larsen's time in Queensland. Here, he met with friends and family and saw them go through heavy moments, giving him inspiration to create a track that provides encouragement to those who need it. "If I Get It Right" raises questions about identity, honesty and whether Stu was truly living the way he wanted to while he was spending a month in Tuscany. By the time Solitude concludes with "Eden" which was written in Patagonia, the songs have reached a place of calm and peace since Stu isn't only looking at what has happened but has also accepted the life he has lived while living in a cabin surrounded by wild horses, a nearby river and a snow-capped volcano.

What Solitude Says About Stu Larsen’s Life As A Songwriter

Stu Larsen's life as a songwriter gives Solitude more meaning because the album comes from someone who had already chosen a life outside the routine he once thought he would stay in. Years ago, after his first trip outside Australia to Vietnam, he returned home and started questioning whether he wanted to keep living the same comfortable life for the next five, ten or twenty years. That was the point where he gave away many of his belongings and started travelling, with music becoming the reason he could keep moving from one place to another. When looking at Solitude through this part of his history, the album feels more personal because it is written by an artist who has spent years turning travel, people, distance and quiet places into songs instead of treating the experience of being alone as something unfamiliar.

His early relationship with music also gives more context to why Solitude stays focused on simple but detailed songwriting rather than trying to overcomplicate its sound. Stu started singing when he was young, joined a church choir around the age of five and later learned guitar at fourteen after his mother encouraged him to play. His older influences, including Neil Young, Bob Dylan, James Taylor, old blues musicians and Ray Charles, can also be felt in the way the album depends on voice, guitar, storytelling and feeling rather than production that draws attention away from the songs themselves. As a result, Solitude becomes more than an album about where Stu Larsen went in 2024, since each song reflects how those places gave him enough space to write honestly about love, questions, encouragement, acceptance and the life he has chosen for himself.

You can listen to the album below and stay in loop with Stu on Instagram here.