For a self-confessed introvert, it was equal parts empowering and frightening.

For the first time on record the third-culture kid explored both their Wiradjuri and Filipino heritage and the alienation they've often felt living in an Anglo Saxon-dominated Australia.

"I don't speak my father's native tongue/ I was born under the southern sun/ I don't know where I belong," the artist born as Mojo Ruiz de Luzuriaga sang.

In the five years since Mo'Ju has grieved the lost of their grandfather, become a parent, released the 2021 mini-album O.K and changed their professional name from Mojo Juju to Mo'Ju out of respect for the spiritual meaning of the world "Juju" in Indigenous languages.

Native Tongue's success and the conversations about race relations the album instigated, took a toll on Mo'Ju, but ultimately led to an equally personal album in Oro, Plata, Mata.

"I still have lots of mixed feelings about that process and how it played out," Mo'Ju says of Native Tongue. "Ultimately I don't regret it because it's allowed me to again explore a deeper part of myself through my art.

"So much of it is introspection and it's not necessarily for anyone else's lens or agenda, but the way that people connect with what you do is such a beautiful and rewarding aspect of making art and putting it out into the world.

"I guess it allowed me to evolve as an artist. By giving more of myself, it's getting more back in the long run."

Indeed Mo'Ju offers much more on Oro, Plata, Mata. The title, which translates to "gold, silver and death", references the 1982 Filipino historical war film of the same name, which was directed by Mo'Ju's late uncle Peque Gallaga.

"Oro, plata, mata" is also a Spanish-Filipino architectural superstition, which believes building anything in a multiple of three is bad luck.

Following Gallaga's death in 2020, Mo'Ju felt inspired to write a three-part album exploring the glorification of wealth and fame, the human experience and existential anxiety.

"I'm not retelling his narrative or anything like that," Mo'Ju says.

"But it was in a way an homage to him. When he passed away in 2020 I was, 'Oh this is someone in my family who had always inspired me to pursue a career in the creative arts'.

"There weren't many people in my family tree doing that in a professional sense.

"I felt in a way that [he gave me] permission to do it.

"I just wanted to do something to pay my respects.

"Once I opened that can of worms and starting thinking about the way he told stories and the format of that film, but also the origins of ora, plata, mata being the superstition, there was just so much there to mine for inspiration."

Mo'Ju's aunt Madie Gallaga also lends her voice to the album, introducing the three distinct parts.

Writing Ora, Plata, Mata also presented a new experience for Mo'Ju.

For the first time they wrote to a preconceived thematic idea.

"I've always been a fan of the concept album and I've always been a fan of having a theme throughout a record, but not to the degree I did on this album," Mo'Ju says.

"In a way, having parameters and a really clear outline, actually was more inspiring creatively than having limitless possibilities."

Ora, Plata, Mata, musically, is an obvious extension of the electronic textures and r'n'b flavours Mo'Ju introduced to their traditional jazz and blues influences on Native Tongue.

Mo'Jo also showcases a new-found playfulness. Money grooves along with a sensual soulfulness and Change Has To Come is driven by a funky bass line and one of Mo'Ju's finest vocals.

Other tracks like The Future and Bran Nue World signal how Mo'Ju's perspective has shifted since becoming a parent.

"You see things through a different lens, which is beyond your own lifespan. It affords you a capacity to feel things in a way and you have a more heightened sensitivity. I feel like I was already a fairly sensitive person," Mo'Ju says.

"I thought I'd considered all these things and my reasons for bringing a child into the world and then the world changed.

"It felt like it changed in a big way right at the time they were born, so all of the sudden I felt like I need to offer you an explanation."

Mo'Ju's album Ora, Plata, Mata is out on Friday.