I made my third album, “Simple, Sweet, and Smiling” during the peak of the pandemic and my own panic disorder. Most of my time was spent at a small writing desk in the corner of my room, where I’d sing over piano or instrumental ideas I’d been given from collaborators John Carroll Kirby and Eli Teplin. Before this album, I’d always written songs in the company of others, but I found a new level of freedom and experimentation on my own. I never felt I was on someone else’s time or at the mercy...