It can also be the hardest thing to get for anyone living a creative life when punching the clock at 5pm is hard to do.

But Shane Nicholson found some distance and it has been good for him. 

You can hear that in the bones of Hell Breaks Loose, the sixth solo album from the Australian singer-songwriter, songs written over several years and during a period of personal change.

The distance can be traced back to his first visit to the town of Hermannsburg, south-west of Alice Springs, home of his friend, the great indigenous songwriter Warren H. Williams.

“He saw that I needed some time to be able to assess everything that was going on, and it was one of the most amazing weeks of my life,’’ Nicholson says. 

“You can’t help but get perspective out there, when you leave all the noise behind. I was taken in so warmly; it was a really humbling experience.’’

Nicholson hadn’t written any songs for the best part of a year, unusual for someone whose work rate has been prolific for these past 15 years. 

Near the end of his stay Nicholson sat beside the old mission church and songs started to pour out of him, including Hermannsburg.

“That town, and Warren H. Williams, made a big difference to me in just a week,” he says.

Hell Breaks Loose is Nicholson’s first recording of original material since the breakdown of his marriage to Kasey Chambers, with whom he recorded two ARIA Award-winning alt-country duet albums, Rattlin’ Bones (2008) and Wreck & Ruin (2012).

Several songs address his new circumstances directly, including the ballad Single Fathers and the starting-over honesty of Secondhand Man. 

Others range across topics from the decline of a once-great city (Irons and Chains, about Detroit), living with depression (Weight of the World), to learning to choose which battles are worth the fight (Bury My Guns).

“Many of these songs are about self-discovery and new horizons,’’ Nicholson says. 

“And also how that’s not always great, it can also sometimes be difficult. 

“You can veer down a few wrong paths. 

“It can take time to adjust. 

“Writers will always find turmoil to write about even if there isn’t any, but the writing for this record certainly came from an authentic place, and was very cathartic.’’

Shane Nicholson will perform an intimate free show at the Grand Junction Hotel on Saturday, August 22, as an unofficial album launch.

He was last at the venue to perform at a Black Dog Institute fundraiser in December alongside Melody Pool and De’May.