New music, new merch!

And some general updates on life and the new record

Well, the first three songs from the new record — “Was I on Your Mind?” “The Stars Don’t Give a Shit” and “Jerks” — are officially out in the world. I would have written to you guys weeks ago when they came out but this last month has been… I’m not sure the appropriate word to describe it. Intense? Humbling? LA was hit with one of the most horrific natural(?) disasters in its history. Days before my carefully planned release, my wife and I were waking up to the smell of smoke and orange light streaming through our blinds in Pasadena. We got an evacuation warning and decided to leave before it became an order. Luckily we had someplace to go, but as we packed up and took a last minute video inventory of everything in our home, the thought of releasing new music suddenly seemed like the least important thing in the world.

I thought of postponing, and releasing the new music at a time that felt more joyful, but at that point it was too late to make the change. I also thought of canceling the upcoming show I had planned. Who knew if it was going to be safe? Or if anyone was going to feel like going out after the collective trauma of the week. In the end I decided to just surrender and let the moment be exactly what it was. And I’m glad I did.

Click here to listen to the new music.

We turned the show into a benefit concert and were able to raise over $2k for families displaced in Altadena, and the overwhelming sentiment was gratitude that we didn’t cancel. People really wanted to come together for something joyful and I could tell we all needed it.

I was reminded that yes, it’s true, releasing new music isn’t life or death, there are often more important things. But music is also the thing we turn to in some of the worst moments in our lives. It lifts us up, dusts us off and brings us to the other side. And in that way, it is sort of life or death.

So when I am one of the lucky ones who hasn’t lost their home or their musical equipment, who hasn’t been injured or killed, it’s definitely my job to remember how vital music is, how lucky I am to be able to make it, and to keep making it.

THE NEW MUSIC

I started writing the new album over 3 years ago when I was going through one of my own personal “worst moments”. The first song “Was I on Your Mind?” (which is out now) is a simple song about being cheated on, but it ended up being the catalyst for a very long and very un-simple exploration of love, partnership, and most importantly of betrayal itself.

If I had been able to write the rest of the songs on the album as fast and as easily as I wrote this one, I would have been done years ago. But that’s the thing about betrayal. It’s really easy to write about its flashier forms. It’s easy to write about rage and anger and life’s flagrant injustices. Much harder to reflect on and write about the more quiet and polite ways we betray ourselves and each other on the daily. This record was my attempt to go there. It took a while. The exploration is incomplete. But the story begins with “Was I on Your Mind?” A song I love because it represents the explosion that I think sometimes needs to occur in our lives to find new ways forward.

I’m going to share more about “The Stars Don’t Give a Shit” and “Jerks” later, but in the meantime I hope you’ll give them a listen and let me know what you think.

I wrote this album sort of like a play so I’m really excited for you to see where it goes from here. My friend Justin said “this is the best music to come out of cheating since Lemonade.” I hope you think so too.

Last but not least, I made a new Superet hoodie and it’s EXTREMELY rad. Please buy it!