You’re going to want to turn this one up. LOUD.
Halflight (the song) is streaming everywhere
‘Dim light such as dusk.’ That’s the definition in the dictionary on my computer for the word ‘half-light’. Hyphenated.
Dim light such as dusk. In the dim light, the appearance of things is not always correct. In the dim light, it’s quite easy to mistake one thing for another. In the dim light, it’s a good idea to give things a second or third look. In the dim light, it’s ok to second guess your gut. It’s ok to be honest about not knowing what you don’t know.
Dim light such as dusk. In the dusk, the most dramatic moments of sunset appear and fade away. In the dusk, light softens and illuminates the inherent beauty in almost everything. In the dusk, the divine in ordinary things is often revealed.
|
We live in the halflight.
Most of life is experienced through squinting, and fumbling around. We don’t see clearly. We bump into each other. It gets messy and uncomfortable. And it’s in this dim light where we either embrace the reality that seeing is hard, or we rage against the halflight in pursuit of daylight. Most days for me are a mix. I’m learning my rage does nothing, so I’m trying to embrace the halflight. I’m trying to live in the humility that whatever I think I see so clearly, isn’t so clear to someone else. It might not be inherently clear at all. In the halflight, I’m learning certainty is merely a shadow in the dark.
That’s where this song comes from. I wrote it as a reminder to myself to remember to slow down, embrace the ambiguity, be more patient with myself and others. I want to be more present with my friends and family as we fumble our way through the dusk. I don’t want to miss the ways the soft light illuminates their beauty and hides their imperfections. I want to stop obsessing over my inability to see well. I want to live in the gratitude of the beauty I can see.
Hopefully the song can be a useful nudge back to humility and understanding. I think of it as a protest song for our hearts. We’re only seeing in the halflight. All of us. Let’s not forget.
That said, Halflight is out today. I’m super proud of this song and am excited to share it with you. I love the way the song allows the concept to unfold, pulling everything into it’s center of gravity, and then locking into one of the most emotional moments on the album: LET THE LIGHT IN, LET ME SEE WHO YOU REALLY ARE!
A few things I love about this song…
- The drum beat. Has sooo much attitude.
- The synth on the 2nd verse, the way it morphs, never lets you pin down what it actually is. It’s a perfect musical expression of the concept.
- The bridge. I love singing that line. I can not wait to sing it live!
It’s everywhere you stream music. Press play and turn it up! Also, if you dig it, or if you think it totally sucks, please share and tell people why. And if you want to talk about it, feel free to email me. I love talking about this stuff with you.
Vinyl update: pre-order is available, delivery times
First off, the full length vinyl is available for pre-order at my Bandcamp store. It’ll be pressed on 140g black vinyl, an insert with lyrics and photos, and the whole thing looks pretty dope if you ask me. Also, if having a personalized copy signed by yours truly is your jam, that’s available too.
Last week I put down the deposit on the first pressing. Exciting! The good news is that they feel pretty good about getting it turned around in a decent amount of time. Decent amount of time in the vinyl industry is a moving target. Most manufacturers I talked to defined it as Feb/March of 2022. They’re that backed up. Luckily, I found a small shop on the east coast that is telling me I can have them in hand in September. But I set the shipping date as 11/1/2021 because one never knows what unforseen things can cause ship dates to slide. If all goes well, they’ll ship before then. If not, then hopefully that’s a safe date.
|
|
|
In other news…I climbed and skied a volcano last week
Last week, me and a few of my ski buddies hiked and skied Mt. Saint Helens. It was spectacular. We got up at 4am to get to the trailhead, throw our skis and boots on our backpacks and hit the trail by 6:30am. The weather was perfect as we started what would be close to a 6,000’ ascent. The five of us eventually reached the top of the rim exhausted and exhilarated. There’s always a sense of disbelief when you reach the top. How did I survive this? There’s always copious high fives. It is solid type 2 fun.
After some lunch we stepped into our skis and began the long descent down. 4000’ of untracked spring snow set to the soundtrack of endless hooting and hollering. My favorite day on snow this year, hands down.
| |
Somewhere on the 4,000' descent of Mt. Saint Helens |
| |
A very happy moment on top of Mt. Saint Helens |
And finally…
Thanks again for being part of this journey. As a songwriter, my biggest hope is that the songs that I write can connect with you in a meaningful way. It was humbling to hear some of the ways All I Want Is Home impacted some of you. Thank you so much for sharing those moments. I can’t tell you how much that means to me.
I hope things are well in your neck of the woods. If you have any thoughts on the song, or these emails, or just want to talk about mountains, feel free to drop me a line.
Until next time…