SINGAPORE - Children figure prominently in British singer James Arthur's new album, It'll All Make Sense In The End.

The album cover features the 33-year-old The X Factor UK winner looking at a boy meant to represent his younger self.

More significantly, the album includes the song Emily, which he wrote when he found out that his former girlfriend, model Jessica Grist, was expecting their daughter. He recently revealed that she had an ectopic pregnancy and lost the child.

"I think I enjoy the idea of maybe being a parent and raising a child," he says at an online press conference with Asian media. "When I wrote the song, having a child was quite a real thing, so it forced me to think about it."

The thought of parenthood was "exciting and scary at the same time", because he was concerned about how his future child would think of his past.

He says: "I rose to fame overnight being part of The X Factor. So, there's been a lot written about me and I've made a lot of mistakes in the spotlight, so yeah, I was thinking about that kind of thing. Like what if my daughter were to disapprove of, you know, the way I was and things like that."

His missteps include using a homophobic slur in a song in 2013.

He credits his parents for inspiring his love of music.

"They were both playing really great music when I was a kid. I loved Elvis Presley because my mum loved him. That was kind of my earliest memories - Elvis Presley, David Bowie, Michael Jackson."

As he grew older, he gravitated to grunge music icon Kurt Cobain and rapper Eminem.

"Their music really resonated with me because I guess I was, like, a rebellious teenager and my family was kind of falling apart a little bit."

His parents divorced when he was young and he ended up in foster care after his mother had difficulties raising her children as a single parent.

She was the one who pushed him to audition for the 2012 edition of The X Factor UK.

He has since built up a string of pop hits - including You're Nobody 'Til Somebody Loves You (2012) and Say You Won't Let Go (2016) - and released four albums.

Many of the songs on It'll All Make Sense In The End were inspired by guitar-based rock, a genre he loves but was not allowed to indulge in after winning The X Factor.

"I would be deterred from exploring those kinds of things," he says. "A label executive or someone would be, like, 'Yeah, we need to kind of dial down on this rock stuff'."

He has a lot more say in his artistic direction these days, he adds. "I suppose remaining true to myself and having conviction is probably the best thing. I've kind of evolved as an artist."

And while he has received nominations at the Brit and American Music Awards, he is not too concerned about critical acclaim.

"I'm not really the kind of guy that thinks about it too much. I don't pay too much mind to awards and things like that. Although I would love a Grammy one day," he says.

He prefers to focus on how his achievements can inspire his fans and the next generation of singers and musicians.

"I just feel very grateful," he says. "I guess I've come from a place where you shouldn't win. You know, it's not easy to get out there and succeed. So I hope that I'm just an example to anyone who feels like they can't achieve things from where they come from, or maybe they don't have the best start in life.

"I hope that I can be an example to those people - that if you work hard enough, you can reach your dreams."

It'll All Make Sense In The End is available on music-streaming platforms.