Few artists embody the leap from behind-the-scenes hitmaker to fully realised solo artist quite like Shaun Farrugia. Now, with the release of his new EP Heading Home, the Maltese singer-songwriter takes another significant step forward, bringing together the songwriting prowess, emotional honesty and soaring melodies that have made him one of the most exciting names emerging from the worlds of pop and electronic music.

While the EP marks a new chapter in Shaun’s own artistic journey, it arrives amid a whirlwind period of career-defining moments. Recent months have seen him feature on Audien’s High Hopes, while a collaboration with Armin van Buuren was premiered by the Dutch icon himself at Tomorrowland. Away from the studio, Shaun has spent the summer performing on some of Europe’s biggest stages, joining Afrojack at Isle of MTV and in Mykonos before heading to Tomorrowland with Martin Garrix’s team. Most recently, he returned to Malta for Summerdaze Festival, supporting Lewis Capaldi in front of a home crowd.

Those achievements build upon a career that has already seen Shaun collaborate with the likes of Martin Garrix, Bono, The Script, Sigala and Audien, while lending his voice to globally successful records including Starlight (Keep Me Afloat). Yet Heading Home feels especially significant. It is the story of an artist who left Malta for London with no industry connections, determined to pursue music against the odds, and who is now finding his own place in the spotlight.

Shaun Farrugia has penned a diary and shared some BTS photos from the making of Heading Home.

For a lot of my career, I’ve been the person in the room writing songs for other artists, collaborating, travelling, jumping from one session to another. I love that side of what I do, and it’s given me opportunities I genuinely never thought I’d have when I was growing up in Malta.

I’ve been lucky enough to work with people like Martin Garrix, David Guetta, Alesso, Armin van Buuren and The Script, which still feels pretty mad to write down. These were artists I was listening to before any of this was my actual life.

But this EP was about coming back to me.

I wanted to make something where I wasn’t thinking about who else could sing the song or where it could end up. I just wanted to write about what was going on in my own head and make music that felt like where I am right now.

A lot of it was made in London, Stockholm and Malta.. the whole process was actually quite simple. There wasn’t this massive masterplan behind every song. We’d start with an idea, a feeling or sometimes just one line, and follow it until it felt like something.

I think that’s what made these songs special to me. They weren’t forced.

The older I get, the more I realise that the songs I connect with most are normally the ones where I’ve stopped trying to write a “good song” and just said what I actually wanted to say.

There were definitely moments making the EP where I’d listen back and think, “Do I really want to put this much of myself out there?” But normally that’s also a sign that you’ve probably written something worth releasing.

It’s quite strange being at this point in my career because I’ve already experienced things that the younger version of me would have completely lost his mind over.

I’ve heard songs I’ve written played to huge crowds. I’ve watched artists I grew up listening to sing words that started with me sitting in a room somewhere trying to figure out a melody.

And yet, when it comes to releasing my own music, I still feel like I’m at the beginning.

There’s something exciting about that.

I spent so many years trying to prove that somebody from Malta could actually do this. When I started, there wasn’t really a blueprint for it. I was just writing songs, sending emails, getting on planes and hoping eventually somebody would take a chance on me.

Now I’m in a position where I get to carry on releasing my own music and slowly build what I actually sounds like as an artist.

That means more to me than I think people realise.

I don’t want this EP to feel like some huge statement that I’ve figured everything out, because I definitely haven’t.

If anything, it’s the opposite.

It’s a snapshot of where I am right now, everything I’ve learned, everything I’m still trying to understand and all the things you sometimes find easier to put into a song than say out loud.

And after all the places music has already taken me, I think the most exciting part is knowing that there’s still so much more I want to do.

Listen to Heading Home below.

Main image Lorella Castillo