Some songwriters report that when angst disappears from their lives, their musical inspiration goes, too. Clearly, that’s not the case for Sharif. The folk-experimental artist, who divides his time between Arlington and Los Angeles, may have grabbed a lot of attention with “Kisses and Lies,” his “break up” album, but he’s over the heartache now. Lucky for us, his music is not only intact but soaring as evidenced on his latest recording, “Almost There.”

“My songs are [usually] about what is going down in my life. The last record was about one girl, a break-up record,” he said. “The songs were sad, about ‘I miss my girlfriend.’ Those type of songs tend to be more country….Now I have all these crushes to write about.”