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Alec Benjamin Talks New Album, 'Struggle' with Social Media: 'It's Harder to Just Make Music'

Alec Benjamin isn't relishing in the release of his debut album, These Two Windows — he's already looking towards what's next.

"I feel like I'm always striving for the next thing," the singer-songwriter tells PEOPLE. "I haven't really had a moment where I felt like, 'This is it.' I'm just excited to finally have the songs out so I can move past them. I like releasing because sometimes it creatively frees me up to make other stuff."

Benjamin debuted These Two Windows on Friday, a day after his 26th birthday and a month after the release of his song, "Six Feet Apart," written about the ongoing global novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

On the album is previously released singles "Oh My God" and "Jesus in L.A." Other titles include "Mind Is a Prison," "Demons," "The Book of You & I," "Match In the Rain," "I'm Not a Cynic," "Alamo" "Must Have Been the Wind" and "Just Like You," a song he wrote for his father and plans to play — or sing — for him now that the album is out.

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MY ALBUM COMES OUT FRIDAY !

A post shared by Alec Benjamin (@alecbenjamin) on May 26, 2020 at 1:18pm PDT

The album is a major milestone as it wasn't overnight success for Benjamin, who grew up in Phoenix and learned to play guitar as a kid. He released his debut mixtape, Narrated For You, in 2013 but it wasn't until the release of "Let Me Down Slowly," his 2019 collaboration with Alessia Cara which has since amassed more than 640 million streams, that he achieved breakout success.

"It did a lot of great things for me," he says. "It sort of closed some doors for me, too. It made me a little bit scared in a lot of ways. But that's okay. It's a good problem to have. I met a lot of awesome people through it."

RELATED: Alec Benjamin Releases New Song 'Six Feet Apart' About Social Distancing amid Coronavirus Crisis

One of those people is John Mayer, whom Benjamin has long been a fan of and now considers a "friend."

"I talk to him all the time," he says, adding, "I don't know if we'll make a song together but to me, it's just nice to have a friend. That's not really on my radar. I just want to be his friend."

Ethan Newmyer Alec Benjamin and John Mayer

Famous friends and new opportunities aside, Benjamin says life hasn't changed all that much since the release of "Let Me Down Slowly."

"I still live at home with my parents," he says. "I'm still stressed out all the time. Touring changed my life quite a bit because I travel a lot. But personally, everything is exactly the same."

As Benjamin's fame grows to the likes of Mayer, 42, there will undoubtedly be an increased interest in his personal life. But, for now, Benjamin says he doesn't "think anyone is really interested in what I'm doing."

"I'm not like Billie Eilish," he says. "The thing I most struggle with is that you have to be on social media and do stuff. I don't want to do that. I'm down to post pictures by myself on Instagram."

Scott Legato/Getty Images Alec Benjamin

In quarantine, Benjamin says his struggles have only been heightened due to the rising popularity of TikTok.

"It's the most unhealthy thing for people mentally," he says of the video-sharing platform. "It's the social media equivalent of eating Doritos. It's like, 'Oh you want me to make a video on TikTok?' Why? I don't want to do that. It's getting harder and harder and harder to just make music. That's my biggest struggle."

"I totally appreciate the platform for what it is," he adds. "But it's just not what I do. People are so creative and smart. But I'm not smart in that way."

As for his fans, Benjamin says he wants them to "stay safe and healthy" during this time and to "draw their own conclusions" about his new music.

"It's going to be up to them how it makes them feel," he says. "I don't want to dictate that."