Adam Lambert had to re-evaluate why he wanted to be in the music industry before recording his new album.

The rock singer - who finished as runner-up on the eighth season of 'American Idol' - decided he needed to take a critical view of his career after releasing his 'Trespassing' album in 2012.

Adam believes this approach helped make his new LP 'the Original High' the record he wanted it to be.

In an interview in the new issue of Notion magazine - for which he was shot by photographer Darren Black - he said: ''The music industry is so crazy, competitive and focused, and after the 'Trespassing' album I kind of had to stop and ask myself, 'Why am I doing this? What do I want? Who am I? What am I about?' And just re-examine at everything. I finally became more grounded about all of the fame stuff; it's not freaking me out any more.''

The 'Your Entertainment' singer added: ''There were certain ways in which I triumphed and certain ways in which I stumbled a little bit. Unfortunately, people were watching while I was learning.''

Adam - who has received critical acclaim for his live performances with legendary band Queen - says his new perspective on his music resulted in the lyrics on his latest songs being ''darker'' than previous recordings.

He said: ''(This album is) dance-y but bitter-sweet, and the lyrics are a little darker (than they have been, previously). I've done the more bubblegum stuff, I've done the camp stuff, and now I want to encourage people to face their s**t. I want to show them the part of me that's not all polished or (still part of) the 'pageant on TV' thing - I want it to be real, you know?''

Adam will premiere his new single 'Ghost Town' on April 21 and his album 'The Original High' will be released in the spring.