Even though outside forces contributed to "Unshattered," the former Bauhaus frontman says that the album fits in with his catalogue of material.

"The album, to me, has that signature electric mark that I'm known for. It has a continuity about it that makes it sound grown up, and it could become very big," Murphy said during a break in rehearsals for his first tour in three years. His touring band includes drummer Justin Bennett (Skinny Puppy), guitarist Mark Gemini Thwaite (Tricky, The Mission) and bassist Jeff Schartoff (Human Waste Project).

Throughout the recording process, producers and musicians--including Paul Statham (who worked on Murphy's album "Deep"), producer Gardner Cole (Madonna), former Bauhaus drummer Kevin Haskins, ex-Jane's Addiction bassist Eric Avery and former Porno for Pyros/Jane's Addiction drummer Stephen Perkins--added pieces here and there, suggesting real drummers instead of samples, and replacing some of the bass sections.

"There were some real subtle but very crucial additions," Murphy said. "There were subtle additions, but it made a great shift in the sand of the album."

liveDaily: You recorded "Unshattered" in several different places throughout the world. Why did you decide to record this way?

"Dust," my 2002 album, was sort of my Turkish album. I lived there for 15 years, and I always thought that that album was going to be recognized as a classic in years to come. That was written with a very specific idea. And afterward, I set out to travel and remove myself from [the] usual way that I write. I write alone, basically. I wanted it to become more of an extrovert approach. That's why I decided to move around a lot and make chance meetings with musicians that I may or may not work with.

How do you feel that your music fits in with today's artists and trends?

If you listen to all my work, there is a wealth of melody and a sense of ranging from pure pop songs with a serious edge to the most esoteric--almost ambient--orchestrated number. It all has an underlying, I suppose, alternative-music element. That's a conscious decision that I make. I am an alternative artist. It's where I come from and what I do. Alternative music helps to establish artists, to give artists an opportunity who would not have acceptance with a corporation. There was born the alternative label. When I think of myself, I think of myself as a lyricist, a novelist--a lyricist and a singer first and foremost. Of course, I write in that way. I don't really feel that I identify with rock 'n' roll, as it were. I always like to say that I'm in rock 'n' roll, but not of it.

Do you write in the studio, or does an approaching deadline appeal to you?

[My songs] tend to come together from disparate areas. I'm always writing words, not as a sense of, "Oh I must write something." I do enjoy writing and playing with words, and maybe I'll get a line or a phrase, I maybe have one note with just one phrase that's a memo to start me off on that idea, that will be like a note. I'll usually write from that. Eventually, I sit down and apply myself. And then when it comes down to the business of songs, I then sort of look for some old ideas, an old riff, an old chord progression here or there.

Who were some of the songwriters you worked with?

I really enjoyed the album by Kurt Swinghammer, and I wanted to meet him when I was over in Montreal. I just said, "Hello, Kurt; let's write some songs." We wrote a couple songs instantly. It was a refreshing approach to cut out the elements of procrastination. There was often too much agonizing over ideas. In a sense, the album appeared, as it were, after doing this sort of writing. I was using words which are evocative of a meaning, but not didactic. It's almost like all these separate elements, disparate elements, were congealed into this one whole, which is an album.

You are touring the United States through May. Is that the only U.S. tour that you have planned in support of "Unshattered"?

In America, yes, at the moment. Afterward, I go to a full British tour, all around Europe, headline festivals in Europe. One of the festivals that is confirmed is headlining a festival in Portugal. Then there's another one in Sweden. For the most part, it's going to be a headline tour, and then, hopefully, here (the United States) again, depending on the reaction.

A few weeks ago, you reunited with Bauhaus members--bassist David J., guitarist Daniel Ash, and drummer Kevin Haskins--at Coachella. How did the reunion go?

Coachella was a memorable event in our lives, I think. The festival has such a relaxed atmosphere. It's very nice. It's affordable; it's $150 for the whole weekend. The facilities there are excellent. It's a very good atmosphere and it's in a brilliant setting. In the times when you're getting major acts that are charging God knows how much, it's a good alternative-music festival, I think.

What do you think about a Bauhaus reunion in the future?

I've always felt that we just have to make a commitment to that. It will happen. I think [Coachella] showed that. In the future, we may get together.

Do you do any Bauhaus songs on this tour?

The only time I did Bauhaus songs was in 1986, just after I went solo, my first solo tour. I tried to do songs like "She's in Parties." Although they sounded good, it was rather unauthentic. I was covering us. It went against the whole idea that a band is the band, and these are the songs. If any one of us were to play separately, it would somehow [destroy] these values. I left them immediately. I stopped playing Bauhaus. It's my music exclusively. I will be covering all of my albums to some extent, with an emphasis on "Unshattered."