The Vance Joy X Fair Harbor Collaboration features three prints inspired by the shores of Flinders in Southern Victoria, Australia, where Vance spent his summers on the beach. The new designs —Breezy Wave, Ocean Ikat, and Green Fish— are rendered on Fair Harbor's classic Bayberry Trunk. With a 7-inch inseam, built-in BreezeKnit™ liner, and vintage-wash fabric, it is the perfect summer style to showcase these playful patterns. 

A week before the much-anticipated release of his new album, In Our Own Sweet Time, Vance took a quick break from his Long Way Home Tour to answer our questions about this limited-edition collection with Fair Harbor, the story behind his new LP, and his favorite memories of Flinders.

You collaborated with Fair Harbor on three swim trunk designs for the second year in a row. Jake and Caroline have admired your music for years now – but what made you want to work with Fair Harbor again?

I love the way Jake and Caroline have built something that reflects their love for their beach community and the natural environment. It's clear to me that what they're doing comes from the heart. 

Places from our past are evocative on so many different levels. When you think of Flinders, is there a particular smell, sound, overall feeling, or sensation that you always associate with it?

Flinders is situated near the water, but there are also farms, vineyards, and forests nearby. The smells that come to mind are the smell of the sea, the damp fresh air of the forest, and also the smell of hay from a big paddock.

I remember when we'd come and stay in this area, I would love coming back from the beach, washing off the sand and salt in the outdoor shower while looking out at the farm across the back fence. The long dry grass was golden in the late afternoon sun!

The outdoors and the ocean are backdrops in many of your videos, where there's often a coastal feeling of summer and sunshine. How do nature and the outdoors inspire you – and does it make you feel more conscious of protecting them?

I like writing songs about connection. It might be the connection that friends and family and lovers share with each other, and it can also be the connection we have with the natural world around us. I think that being immersed in nature can help us to become present, to quiet the mind which is always thinking away. The best songs usually come from a place of presence when you're not thinking and trying too hard. I want to protect the natural world because these places help us get in touch with who we really are. 

Last year you donated proceeds from your Fair Harbor collaboration to the charitable organizations Wildlife Victoria and SEE Turtles. Tell us how you chose the children's organization Cottage By the Sea this time around – and why you support their mission.

I had the opportunity of spending some time with some of the kids at a Flying Fox day camp. Flying Fox works with Cottage by the Sea to provide fun and inspirational experiences to young people. I had so much fun that day hanging out with the kids. We went to an amusement park and ended up doing some sing-alongs at the end. There were plenty of laughs. There is something special and lasting about the shared joy of these experiences. 

This collection is all about the memories created as children at the beach. I spent some summers as a child at the Riptide Motel in Queenscliff, so we'd call the beach next door "Riptide Beach." Cottage by the Sea has recently purchased this motel and is turning it into a vacation spot as part of their organization. I like that the proceeds from this collection go to Cottage by the Sea and to the children who'll enjoy Riptide Beach like we did as kids.

Your new album,  In Our Own Sweet Time, is dropping on June 10th. What’s the inspiration behind it?

Timeless moments of retreat. I was inspired by a sense of contentment that I've been able to glimpse in quiet moments over the last few years. I hope that the songs convey that feeling to the listeners out there.