I belong to a generation that grew up hearing we could have anything we desired — that the only real obstacle to realizing one’s dreams was oneself, to overcome an intrinsic reluctance to self-realize. With every imaginable resource at our fingertips, free for the taking, there was a compelling argument for the pursuit of desire through technology. All that was left was to figure out *what* we desired. The potential was limitless. But the potential for what, exactly? Society was no longer telling anyone what to do with their life. That was for each individual to decide – just as long as we stayed ambitious.

Yet the more time passed, the less anyone seemed able to articulate an answer. What became clear instead was that most people had little interest in realizing their dreams. On the contrary, they spent years analyzing them with a therapist, ensuring their dreams would never interfere with reality, perpetuating a cycle in which the failure to make oneself the center of every consideration was deemed just as pathological as the tendency to do so. Even for those compelled to broadcast themselves online, the internet no longer offered the illusion of being seen.

As it turns out, we crave less to see than to be seen. I spent the better part of a decade worrying what people on the internet might see in my work, only to discover that once I was ready to show it, hardly anyone was watching. It wasn’t anything personal – the algorithm had simply moved on. The reason I say all this is the same reason I chose to make this cassette: to create a context that would otherwise be determined by ads and other numbing distractions - whose function is to keep us from imagining a reality without them - and to express what I believe to be true: that the only important thing in life is who you spend it with. Every good thing that has happened to me - and there are many – I owe to someone else. This album is no exception.

When I approached Armand about helping with this album, I had no idea what I was getting us into. I can't imagine he did either, or he wouldn’t have agreed. Initially, my request had sounded reasonable enough: I wanted him to listen to the album and tell me, in his honest estimation, whether anything stood out as egregious. It wasn’t until we had all but abandoned my earlier versions and were deep into re-recording the album that the real nature of my request dawned on me. I hadn’t been seeking his evaluation or approval, but his perspective — his way of seeing the music, and me within it. To be in the room with Armand, witnessing him transform my songs into what he considered their most compelling form, was, quite literally, transformative. How often do you meet someone who can diagnose a problem and deliver the solution in the same breath?

We like to think we’re looking for someone competent to put our faith in, when really it’s only the act of having faith that reveals their competence. There is a sign hanging in the studio where this album was made that reads:

We don’t do it because it’s easy, we do it because we thought it would be easy.

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. This album is dedicated to everyone in my life who believed in the value of my work long before I did. It’s not that I couldn’t have done it without you — I simply wouldn’t have.

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