For the past four years, Coodjinburra singer/songwriter Budjerah has been patient.

The two-time ARIA Award-winning music artist has just released his debut album, Gentleman.

But it took a while to get there.

"I think even by music industry norms, four years is a long time to get that many songs together," Budjerah said.

"I think I've written maybe three albums in the meantime separate from just these 11 tracks, and it started in 2022; I'd won two ARIAs and I really wanted to make an album.

"I didn't feel creatively satisfied, just having these little short bursts of creativity with the EPs."

Budjerah, 24, spent a month writing "a tonne of songs" with Australian singer/songwriter Matt Corby for what would have been his debut album, but just one of those songs, titled Video Game, was released, in July 2023.

In February and March of that year, Budjerah went on tour with Ed Sheeran as the support act for the Australian leg of Sheeran's Mathematics tour.

This coincided with the release of Budjerah's hit single Therapy in February 2023.

"I think the success of Therapy at the beginning of 2023, people just wanted to hear that one song," Budjerah says.

"So, I was on tour, and I was doing two to three shows a week for a year, and then more after that, and I didn't get the time to actually finish the songs, or work on any more songs, because it was all go, go, go, go, go, we need to boost this one song."

A true Gentleman

Gentleman is produced by the Grammy Award-winner Om'Mas Keith (Frank Ocean, Jay-Z), and musically it is inspired by the songs Budjerah grew up listening to.

The 11 tracks have a timeless R&B/pop sound including the first single, Want You Back, which quickly caught the attention of Elton John.

"I just got a call one day, and they said listen in from here, they're going to play your song on his radio show, Rocket Hour on Apple," Budjerah said.

"And so, I stayed up till the middle of the night to listen to it."

It was a full circle (of life) moment given The Lion King is Budjerah's favourite movie.

The funky, high-energy title track takes its cue from the likes of James Brown, who Budjerah is a big fan of via his uncles and grandfather.

"I felt like it was a fun way to play up the performance aspect of what I do, because everything I do is about the performance," Budjerah says.

"When I'm in the studio, I think about how the song is going to be interpreted live."

Budjerah loves to perform live so much, he even sang at his own wedding to high school sweetheart Sophie Slabb (née Moore), according to Vogue Australia.

"I'm lucky I've been able to experience love," Budjerah told the ABC.

"I don't sing nothing that I don't mean.

"I always relate it to my personal experience and my stories."

The catchy Could I Be is exactly what he's talking about.

Budjerah is going on tour to support his new album.

His official tour will kick off in Melbourne on October 31, then he'll head to Anglesea in Victoria, Sydney, and the Gold Coast, before wrapping up in Brisbane on Saturday, November 21.

Budjerah collaborated with a host of esteemed songwriters on Gentleman including the legendary Diane Warren (Celine Dion and Beyoncé) on Even at My Worst.

"She's one of my songwriting heroes," he says.

"And so, getting to meet her, and then getting to sing one of her songs was just a once-in-a-lifetime experience for me."

There were some tracks on the album, however, that felt counterintuitive to Budjerah, who was raised in church to parents who were both musicians — but also pastors.

Those songs are Hard Time and Sinner.

"I thought it was funny, being a little gospel singer from Fingal Head given the song called Sinner," Budjerah said.

"And then a song called Hard Time, a lot of Aboriginal people do a bit of a hard time.

"So, I thought it was a bit of an odd topic, but my dad said, 'do both if you have enough time'.

"My dad just said, 'those two songs are perfect'.

"They weren't the obvious picks for me, but we just had fun with them, and I really enjoyed singing both of them. They fit really well for my voice."

Keeping the faith

Speaking to ABC News from the house he grew up in, Budjerah spun around and held up his Bible when asked if he still carried one around.

"I always keep it with me," he said.

"Usually, some hotels and motels have a Bible in the drawer, but not all the time, and sometimes it's just something that I need.

"So, I carry it with me, and I read it, and my faith has been something that's been really helpful and important to me, especially when I'm on the road and travelling so much, it keeps me together."

Born Budjerah Julum Slabb, the artist is from the small coastal village of Fingal Head in the far north-eastern corner of NSW.

"I had a very fun childhood," he says.

"I enjoyed the music, a very loving family, and some people have a hard time, like, other pastor's kids that I know, but I've been very blessed that I've had super supportive parents and family.

"I got to be a kid, I got to listen to good music, I got to go surfing."

You can still find Budjerah, the eldest of four, in church on a Sunday.

"My grandfather, he goes to a church across the river that I go to, and I try to sneak in, but … I end up singing a song almost every time.

"So, if anyone wants a free concert, you might see me in a church on a Sunday, any old Sunday, I might be singing."

Finding his voice

Budjerah first burst out on the scene as a fresh-faced teenager on The Voice, but not a single judge (Delta Goodrem, Guy Sebastian, Boy George, Kelly Rowland) turned their chair, despite a standing ovation from the audience.

"It was a pretty wild experience, especially for a 16-year-old," he says.

"I think that that was the first time that I truly experienced heartbreak, as a young person.

"I felt like my whole dream was just crushed.

"But [I] always remember Kelly Rowland just telling me, just keep singing, just keep singing.

"And it'll work out. When it's meant to happen, it'll happen."

It's not the only audition he's failed to land.

Budjerah says he tried out for the role of Malakai in the Netflix series Heartbreak High.

"Thomas Weatherall got the role. I didn't get the role," Budjerah says.

"So, I think it's really cool that I still get to be in the show somehow, with my music in there [on the soundtrack]."

He still has ambitions to act.

"I want to be a triple threat, so singing, dancing, acting," he says.

"I write songs as well, so, I guess my personal dream is to be the ultimate entertainer, so I spend a lot of time practising my dances and singing every day, and dancing every day, and acting.

"What got me into performing was doing the school musicals and school plays.

"So, I always thought maybe one day I'd come back to acting."

Gentleman is out now and Budjerah's official album tour will kick off in Melbourne in October.