Singing about a soldier serving abroad or bedtime for his young son, rocker Rod Stewart continues his comeback to songwriting with new album "Another Country" and says his attitude toward penning tracks has changed with age.
The 70-year-old singer, who gained fame with the band Faces before enjoying solo stardom, has previously said songwriting was a slow process for him.
"Time," released in 2013, was his first self-penned album in years, following several covers, including the popular "The Great American Songbook" album series.
"In the old days, when I was with the Faces and my solo albums,[songwriting] was more like being at school doing homework," Stewart told Reuters. "But actually now, I enjoy the process. It's something, I think, has come with age."
With his spiky hair and raspy voice, Stewart is known for hits such as "Maggie May" and "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?". He says his new album is "pretty varied."
"There's ... 'Way Back Home', which although I wasn't around ... [is] memories I've garnered from my brothers, sisters and parents about what London was like after the war," he said. "Otherwise there's a song on there about putting my son to bed."
Stewart has long been candid about his rock 'n' roll party lifestyle. Today's music scene is a lot tamer than his 1970s heyday, he said.
"There's not quite this spontaneity that there was when I was coming through and also there wasn't mobile phones with cameras so obviously we got away with a lot more than new artists do," he said. "But generally speaking, I don't think you can shock the public anymore, I think they've been shocked enough."
Along with a new album, upcoming Las Vegas and European performances, Stewart says he has no plans on retiring and would even like to play Glastonbury music festival with Faces.
"What I do is who I am, so I would like to keep it going as long as possible," he said. "As long as the voice is still there and the lungs have still got plenty of energy, then I will keep doing it."
