Jon Stevens could be forgiven for creatively resting on his laurels, given that he’s been navigating the glare of the spotlight since his earliest forays as a teenage heartthrob in his native New Zealand during the late ‘70s, but he’s still constantly on the search for that elusive next song. 

He certainly doesn’t need to be: between the canons of Noiseworks (the band he co-formed in Melbourne having crossed the ditch and fronted for their entire ‘80s/‘90s existence) and INXS (with whom he performed for a few years at the turn of the Millennium following the tragic passing of Michael Hutchence), he has more than enough bangers to fill a setlist and keep punters ecstatic at the dozens of concerts and festivals that he still performs each year.

But Stevens remains perennially on the hunt for that next hit, which is why when he chats to The Music that he seems so thrilled at the imminent release of his accomplished new solo album Shimmer (out Friday 8 October). 

The album’s roots spread right back to early 2023, when Stevens’ solo band toured Australia as openers for distinguished foreign guests in the form of charismatic US vocalist Cyndi Lauper and iconic UK rocker Sir Rod Stewart, and a chance encounter that got the creative ball rolling amidst some hectic schedules.

“I was in the middle of a tour with Rod Stewart - we did 15 shows together around Australia and New Zealand,” the singer remembers, “and his producer and songwriting partner, Kevin Savigar, loved me and my band and he just said, ‘Hey, I'd love to write some songs with you if you want to get together?’ 

“So after the tour finished, months went by, and I was still on tour doing Red Hot Summers and doing other things, but then I had a week off in December 2023 going into 2024, so I jumped on a plane. I called Kev and said, ‘Hey, Kev, what are you doing, man? I've got a week off, where are you?’ He says, ‘I'm actually going to be at home in LA - I'm off too, so why don’t you come over?’

“So, we got together and we just started writing. Also, Emerson Swinford - who is Rod's guitar player - happened to be in town, so the three of us just got together and hung out for the week, drank margaritas and made some music. So, we came up with a whole lot of song ideas, and then we went home. 

“2024 rolls into just non-stop touring for me and obviously for them, but I managed to grab another week with Kevin in the middle of 2024. So, it was just sort of done in a few sittings with me getting together with them and then coming home and being with my band and my guys and just adding them as I was finishing songs. 

"And I was in all manner of places: I was in New York for something, so I did some stuff there. I was in Hawaii on a break, and I just got bored, so I got my engineer over and my drummer over, and we just hung out and worked on the tracks. It was just a process, really. I had a lot of stuff to work with, and I just narrowed it down to the 11 songs that are on there, which are all very different too.”

Some artists struggle writing on the road or in the midst of packed itineraries, but Stevens explains that he doesn’t really have much say in the matter. 

“I was constantly touring, and the songs were just percolating,” he smiles. “So I would be sitting in the hotel room after a show, not being able to sleep, and just pottering away on one of the songs. And so they had a bit of time to percolate, and I had time to just sort of experiment with stuff. 

“And that was a good thing, because back in the old days, you'd go, ‘OK, we've got like two weeks - get in there, make the record, get out!’ Which can be good too, especially if you're in a band and you're rolling that fast, but as a solo artist, I get to spend as much time as I want, really. How long is a piece of string? So I managed to finish it and just stick it out.”

Stevens is no stranger to songwriting collaborations - he famously wrote with Slash during his stint in Oz rockers The Dead Daisies, and his last solo album Starlight (2017) was penned alongside Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics - but he admits feeling a real simpatico with Savigar as they worked together to create Shimmer.

“Kevin's been working with the great Rod - the legendary Sir Rod Stewart - since the 70s, they've done a lot of stuff together,” he explains. “Kevin's English and he's a funny bugger, and he's an incredible, incredible musician - he has incredible ears. And he's a very collaborative guy: he doesn't try to impose himself on you, he just tries to work with you and get the best out of you by just going, ‘What about this? Hey, what about this? Hey, what about this? That's going to be good. Let's go there.’ 

“Options, options, options for days - when you're that good, you've always got plenty of options. And so we worked really, really well in that sense, and we didn't labour over anything. Everything came out naturally and easily, and the songs that didn't make the record didn't make them for a reason, and the ones that did is because they came out so naturally and easily and just felt the best.”

Stevens is also enjoying the liberty of traversing different styles of music on Shimmer - the diverse but cohesive collection covering everything from rock to soul to pop to flourishes of country - a luxury which comes from operating under his own banner.

“That's why, as a solo artist, I'm quite eclectic, because I can sing any sort of genre,” he continues. “So I tend to try all sorts of different things, like going from soul to rock to pop to whatever, and I like being able to do that. I like to be able to have different flavours. 

“Whereas in a rock band - which I've been in a few - you've pretty much got to zero in on one thing, and that's limiting. That can be very limiting, especially for a singer like me that has different facets to their vocal range.”

Shimmer is a lyrically heartfelt batch of songs - Stevens pouring his heart and soul into the tracks - no more so than on the moving title track, which opens the album.

“It is very personal, it’s just where I'm at in my life at the moment,” he reflects solemnly. “I think Shimmer, for instance, with the chorus “Shimmer like a diamond in the sky,” I just kept thinking of my sisters - I lost two sisters during COVID. In 2020, I lost a sister in New Zealand and another sister in 2021 in Melbourne: both passed away on the same day, a year apart. It was just so weird. 

“So lyrically, that was what I was thinking of - it was kind of their anniversary at the time. I'd already sung, "Shimmer like a diamond in the sky,” and what does that conjure up? That conjures up the spirit, the soul, you know? When reminiscing, I'm always looking at the stars because it's like this vast universe, and it’s better to look up than to look down - there’s more infinite possibilities up there, and there's not much going on down there. 

“So, I'm always looking at the sky - I'm always looking at the stars - and wondering, and just contemplating. I've been like that since I was a kid, and I think most people are like that. I think with these devices that we have in our hands 24 -7, we're always looking at shit nowadays, and I think it's really bad for the human race, because it takes away the wonder of that vastness. 

“So, ‘Shimmer like a diamond in the sky’ was really remembering their soul [and asking] where do we go when we're gone? Where do we go? Because we do have a spirit, we do have a soul, and it goes somewhere, right? I like to think that when that star up there glistens, that’s my sisters saying hello.”

The music industry today is a completely different world from when Stevens was climbing the charts and shifting units by the truckload in the ‘80s, and he’s adapted to this new paradigm by drip-feeding a heap of songs from Shimmer to his fanbase in the lead-up to the album’s release.

“I'm planning a big tour next year with this record, hence me putting a single out a week - I just wanted people to have the time to listen to it,” he admits. “Because what generally happens these days is you've released a song or two songs, and then you release the album, and nobody's heard the music. 

“And then you’ve got to go out and play, and nobody knows the songs. It’s, like, ‘Oh, here we go. It's a new song, time to go to the bar!’ So I just thought, ‘You know what? Really, this record's for the fans, so I'm just putting it out on Spotify and Apple Music and all that - all the subscribing DSPs, digital service providers, which most of the population of the world is on nowadays because it costs them $10, $15 a month to have all the music in the world at their fingertips - so, basically, we're giving it away. 

“I thought, ‘Well, I'll just give it to my fans’. So on my Instagram and my Facebook, the fans that have been with me all this time, I'll just give it to them first. And anybody, if they want to save it, want to pass it on, anybody who wants to save it, they can. It’s nothing more than me saying, ‘Here's the music, guys - it’s yours, I hope you like it!’ And then by the time I tour, which will be next year, they will know all the songs. 

“That's really what I wanted to do, because obviously I've got to play the hits - Noiseworks and INXS, you know, the songs that people really want to hear. And I'm really grateful to have been in those bands and to be playing those amazing songs - people really want to hear those, and I really want to play them - but I'll play a couple of songs off this album as well, just bits and pieces. Because why not? It invigorates you.”

Progress can negatively impact the number of albums an artist sells compared to the halcyon days, but it can never diminish that communion between artist and fans that happens in the live realm.

"It's the only thing, really,” he states. “Because if the people still want to pay their hard-earned money to come and see you, then you owe it to them to give them everything you've got. And they want to hear those songs - I've certainly realised that over the years - because that's what they've grown up with. It's part of their lives, and it's part of my life. 

“And I kind of owe it to them to give them that, relive that moment again, whatever it is. And they bring three generations along to gigs, and the kids are singing the lyrics, and it's just wild to me. So you've got to respect that, and I respect that very much, and I'm very grateful for that experience - to still be able to do that and be able to give that to people. 

"And for the hour-and-a-half, two hours onstage, everyone gets to forget about life for a while and just enjoy the music and the fun and the energy and the sweat and the beers - just the whole thing, it’s just an experience. That's what drives all of us, really, that are of my ilk. 

“It is always there, and we’re very blessed to have that there because I'm what you call a lifer. I’m a lifer. I released my first record in 1979 - that’s 46 years ago - and honestly, I feel great where I’m at now, and I'm singing better than I ever have. 

“I think most of that is because I have a lot of joy in what I do, and that joy comes from being able to give to people that same joy. It's an exchange of a lot of smiles for everybody, audience and artists. It's wild.”

Jon Stevens’ new album, Shimmer, is out now. In 2026, he’ll embark on the ‘Summer Of Love’ Rockfest tour across the country.

JON STEVENS

SUMMER OF LOVE ROCKFEST

WITH WOLFMOTHER, THE SCREAMING JETS & LARGE MIRAGE

14 February - Margaret Court Arena, Melbourne
7 March - Fortitude Music Hall, Brisbane
10 April - Crown Theatre, Perth - Wolfmother only
18 April - The Hordern Pavilion, Sydney

Tickets are available on Jon Stevens’ website