To singer-songwriter David Gray, his latest album, Draw the Line, marks his coming to terms with the spiral of fame that started with the international success of his 1998 release White Ladder. It was the vindication of a career in music that has brought him from an awe-inspiring night watching the Cure play over a thunderstorm in Glastonbury, to a dream scenario in the middle of a soccer pitch alongside some of the best footballers in the world, to a difficult band breakup, to a new album that has Gray more excited to play than ever.

In a wide-ranging discussion, David candidly reflected with Big Think on his music, the record industry, and the artistic drives that keep him going. He says that his drive to make music is “not a selfless act. It’s an obsession. It’s taken a huge part of me. I’ve poured so much into it, but it’s the beast that wants more,” but also stresses “Music’s a connection…if you make a song that has all the nerve endings on the outside of it that people can sense it, how alive it is and how alive they are through the listening to it—that’s what you want.”