JC Stewart is undergoing something of an artistic renaissance – “a new chapter”, in his words. Notably, the artwork and promo clip for his haunting new single, ‘Hey Babe, I’m A Mess, I’m Sorry’, depicts the Derry singer-songwriter in a mysterious light. The black and white video is particularly macabre, showing the 27-year-old bound up in barbed wire, carrying a corpse-like strawman out to sea.

As we enjoy a sparkling Ballygowan at the Gibson Hotel in Dublin, he explains all.

“That song was about my music career,” he reflects. “Young men are allowed to talk now, and that’s amazing, but sometimes I don’t know how to talk about how I’m feeling. I was verbalising that weird time at the end of it all, when it was all falling apart. I was hard-hearted after being hurt by music.

“My girlfriend was telling me I looked like I had nothing left, that I was closed off to everything. There was a five-year period where I was really pushing. I got signed to Warner Records, which was a dream come true. But the music coming out didn’t align with what I wanted it to be. That burned me out.”

“Sometimes I felt like I didn’t have a right to feel that, that I’m privileged to have done what I’ve done. But there was a lot of stuff going on – people would stop answering calls and all that rubbish. It felt like a wild thing to be doing. I turned 25 and said, ‘Nah, I’m not doing this anymore.’ I wanted to look at my life and be proud. Either I do this my way or not at all.”

This redirection towards authenticity led Stewart to set up shop back home in Northern Ireland, where he’s been building a cache of tunes he hopes will form the bones of a debut album.

“We didn’t have a studio,” he reveals. “The set-up was really basic. We had the guitarist from Two Door Cinema Club sitting on my parents’ sofa drinking tea between takes. I want to reflect where I’m from in the music. A lot of people didn’t even know I was Northern Irish before, when I’m actually very proud to be from Northern Ireland. It’s mental, it’s complicated and it’s hard, but it’s beautiful. It’s an incredibly progressive and creative place too. There’s nowhere like it in the world.”

Coming from a long line of JC Stewart grocers, the singer’s roots run deep in Magherafelt. But the family business, it turns out, wasn’t for him.

“It was an option,” he reflects. “I genuinely got fired by my dad at one point. I couldn’t hack working at the checkout, so I got moved to the kitchen downstairs. I was a lot better at chopping peppers, it turned out.”

In the end, Stewart’s talents were better appreciated by Northern rock heroes Snow Patrol, who took him under their wing in the early stages of his career.

“They’re the first people who signed me to publishing and I’m still with them, they’re my heroes,” the singer beams. “Authenticity is what they do. I’m really in the Northern Irish category with them, Foy Vance, Ash and Two Door Cinema Club. Van Morrison too. It’s the nuances. The way we say stuff and interact gives us a different perspective. I don’t want to be the next Dermot Kennedy or Cian Ducrot. Those guys are incredible, but I want to do the Northern Irish thing.”

Still, Dublin has its undoubted attractions.

“You do get a better pint in Dublin,” says Stewart. “However, there’s a place called the Harbour Bar in Portrush that’s top five in the world, and I will die on that hill!”

• JC Stewart plays Whelan’s, Dublin on October 12.