Andy Grammer's new album, Monster, is out Oct. 4, and its creation was sparked by him picking up an instrument he'd never played before — the mandolin.
"It felt really unique and interesting, and so there was something about a new box of toys to play," he tells ABC Audio. He notes that "just by holding the mandolin and figuring it out blindly, all these awesome songs started coming out."
Some songs were inspired by Andy's anger over a broken relationship — and confronting that anger was an alien experience for him.
"That's a little bit of the monster I'm talking about," he says. "It's like, 'Uh, I don't want to meet that guy. I don't like that guy.'" But Andy realized that if he didn't deal with his anger, he'd be "turning [his] back on the truth." Ultimately, it was a healing experience.
"Seeing that [the monster] is actually there as a guide to get you back to authenticity, and it's not just this horrible thing that's there to ruin everybody's day — that was really powerful," he says.
Despite the serious topics, Monster includes plenty of upbeat tunes.
"It was like, 'Oh my God, if we're going there, then I need a fist pumping in the air and I need to be going nuts,'" Andy laughs. "And so a lot of them are like that."
Andy will tour Monster next year; he's currently on his Greater Than tour, which is half concert, half group therapy session.
"There's telephones in the audience where people are sharing things. You're given a card and a pen when you come in and you answer three really deep questions," he says. "And ... we go through a thing together that is just different than anything I've ever done. It's so interesting, and fun and wild."