Cooper’s newest release On Being, his tenth studio album, is an exploration of the “desperate experience of being human”. Crafted over two years, gathering thousands of anonymous quotes to use as creative fuel, this is Cooper’s first attempt to use the experiences of his audience as inspiration for his music – rather than attempting to influence his audience’s experiences with his music.

“I hadn’t realised the impact that other people’s words would have on me.”

With On Being, Cooper aimed to probe under the synthetic surface of social media to “create a snapshot of our minds these days” by asking people to share anonymously what they dare not ever say publicly. The result is an emotionally raw and shockingly honest kaleidoscope of confessions, ranging from suicide contemplations to miserable marriages to simple pure loneliness, contrasting with hundreds of anonymous confessions of love and longing.

“I was interested in the way I interact with people for my writing process, which usually involves a one-way communication of feelings and ideas that I later find out whether they resonate with others or not,” says Cooper. “With this I could start instead with people’s thoughts and feelings, what resonates for them, and make my own interpretations of those musically and visually, and then send those back out to everyone. It’s more of a collaborative approach to making an album, and more intense.”

Grief, hope, regret, joy, hurt and love form the basis for each track, taking Cooper’s ever-evolving creative process in a completely new direction – with profoundly intense results.