Eight years after his first single and five after his debut album, The Epilogue marks the end of Dean Lewis’ first era as an artist as well as a significant revelation: “My whole philosophy changed when I realized I spent the last eight years chasing success,” the Sydney-born singer-songwriter tells Apple Music. “I attached my self-worth to the numbers. How the songs are doing, if the shows are selling out, how my TikToks are doing. I fell into that trap. So this album is me saying goodbye to that whole period of my life.” “Waves” and “Be Alright” were multiplatinum, chart-topping singles that appeared in TV shows and advertisements, got remixed and covered, and earned Lewis a global fanbase, but that isn't the kind of success he's looking for with his third album. “I don’t need a song to go viral, and viral doesn't necessarily even mean it's good,” he says. “Social media gave me a second chance, so, as much as I appreciate it and I’m used to it, I just want to release great songs. Instead of focusing on constantly selling myself, I'm more interested in the stories, the world of the songs.” It's those songs and stories that resonate most on The Epilogue. Some are about specific people, like old friends and past lovers. Elsewhere, he draws personal experiences together to tell something broader, but no less meaningful. “I'm writing songs that I want people to hear about my life in the most specific ways,” he says. “People won’t connect to music if it’s just for them, because you can’t only write for other people. It’s got to be about you.” Read on for more insight into select tracks on Lewis’ third album. “Empire” “I wanted it to feel like you're in a cabin on a hill and the wind is hitting it hard. I started with the percussion, the knee tapping. The song is actually about my best friend who I lost my relationship with. She supported me through everything, helping me with my vision, my photos, the TikToks, what song I should release, what style. She gave up so much of her life, and she eventually wanted to go and pursue her own dreams, and I think she felt a bit trapped. So the song is me saying, ‘Go and achieve your dreams on your own, and if the wind ever breaks down your windows, I'll be here to help if you need me.’” “All Your Lies” “It’s about fake friends, about realizing that not everyone has the best intentions, being a little bit too trusting. It's about wanting to just get away and drive into the hills. You don't always realize that not everyone has the best intentions. It’s about a few things—two-faced friends, people that you think are your friends and they're not really. Business things as well. You get taken advantage of, people want to make money from you. It's about a lot of different things in life and wanting to go, ‘I just want to make songs, man. I don't care.’ I'm not a flashy guy. I don't go to events, I don't care about anything like that. I just want to get away and write songs.” “Memories” “It’s also about losing my relationship with my best friend, but it was at a different sort of stage. When you just know it’s kind of done, but you can also look back and say, ‘Wow, we had a great time and these memories are going to stay with me forever. We've gone our separate ways, but I appreciate all that time that we had together.’ It’s a really special one for me.” “Trust Me Mate” “It’s another one of those songs where I combined a bunch of things, including some stuff that had happened to me and one of my brothers. You know that feeling of telling a friend to not give up? With my career, there’s been so many times where you go up and down, go up and down. You don't stay hot forever and you don't stay at the bottom forever. And it's really good to have friends who will say, ‘Hey, it's going to be okay.’ Sometimes that's all you need. For me, so many times in my life, you think negatively about something and then someone will go, ‘Here's the brighter side,’ and I’ll feel better. So that song is really about friendship, hope, and not giving up on yourself or your friends.” “Clélia's Song" “Clélia was like a sister to my brothers and me. She passed away and I wanted to write a song for her. In the lyrics, I say, ‘You're driving the long way around, I'll see you again sometime.... Pick up, pick up, pick up.’ It’s like, how do you feel? You're lonely. It's just a beautiful song I wanted to write about her and let her know that we're all thinking about her.” “The Last Bit of Us” “I wrote my whole second album about one girl. I think it's hilarious and embarrassing, but it’s the truth. This is me saying, ‘This is the last song I'm going to write about you and about us.’ It was interesting, because I knew it was the last one, and it was a choice. It’s also about the very last time you hug someone and you say goodbye, so I tried to describe that feeling. I’m really proud of the songwriting in this one, especially the way that it builds in the end with this big instrumental crescendo.”