I've hit quite a stride in my next music project. I have a few songs that are fleshed out, with chords and instrumentation largely completed. The lyrics on the other hand… And the melodies are demos at best

The EP, codenamed Epsilon, will be a lot more electronic. I've liked returning back to my electronic roots, albeit with a much more sophisticated understanding of production. A big problem with acoustic guitar is that it's VERY difficult to make sound good when you have shitty equipment. I don't even need equipment to record synths because it's all MIDI. So hopefully it sounds a bit more professional, even though I'm an amateur faking it.

I'm also challenging myself to use drums, which I have traditionally opted against. Especially for ballads, I realized that my favorite bittersweet songs were bittersweet primarily because of drums. That doesn't mean the EP will be any less moody; if anything, it might be more.

When I have something good, I love playing my song over and over again while it's still unfinished. I got some really cool moments guys. I felt that with Winter with the bridge and its strings, it just sounds so good to me. I have a moment like that, but a bit more intense and less pretty, more heart-dropping. I like that word, heart-dropping. I don't know if it exists but it should. But what ends up happening is that section ends up getting a bit stale to me, and I don't know if it will hit for others the way it does for me. Production is actually a really big part of making moments hit that extra 10 percent more, so recognizing if something still works is actually really important so that you don't overdo it or underdo it.

So I do this thing where I put my songs in slowed + reverb generators and nightcore generators. Basically it will change the key of the song, which creates a level of unfamiliarity that allows me to evaluate how the listener will hear it, emotionally. It also allows me to see some of what frequencies are too loud or too quiet. I also love it, although it's a bit cringey.

When I say that the EP is electronic, it's not going to be like EDM. I have much more of an indie rock influence on this—although who knows if you'll hear that. I have influences and results, and they don't match. I have a song that was initially inspired by Billy Joel (or what I feel like he probably sounds like, I don't really listen to him) that is probably the furthest thing from that now. But you'll definitely hear Radiohead in this project, particularly Kid-A-eque weird style. Maybe a little bit of Beach House? One of the songs was influenced by Mitski; although it's in the early phases so we'll see if it makes it to the EP, but it does have a title so the chances are higher than just a one-off idea.

I'm struggling to make an idea that I had on acoustic guitar work in this framework. When everything sounds so crisp and good, I might have to put some heavy filters on the guitar recordings to make it sound like I'm making it sound bad on purpose. I also really do want to put some electric guitar on some songs, to make it sound more rock-ish. But I don't want to make basic indie rock music, I want to do something different. I set a rule earlier that I wouldn't use electric guitar on the EP, but I'm reconsidering that now. I'm gonna try some more things.

Because ultimately, I need to ground my music somehow, down from the electronic wonderland. The electronic wonderland is fun, but when a song feels organic, that's when it can hit hard and feel sad or bittersweet or some more complex emotion. I am making my synths sort of peak and cut out for this exact purpose. I'm incorporating piano but it's synthesized, so I need to see if it takes up that void.

I'm hoping for a late 2024 release, but that's being optimistic. I don't want to put out singles before the project is complete because I want the most amount of time to perfect the songs to my liking. When I released Take a Seat and I Saw You as early singles, I didn't know how important panning is. This made those songs sound hollow, and not in a good way. So I had to remaster them, and that's a bit confusing when they're pretty much the same songs—apart from I Saw You, where I added an intro and outro, but even that is not much let's be real. I'd rather not do that again.

I'm so excited to reveal stuff. I'll probably be sharing some teasers on Instagram because I can't help myself. I also hope to do a livestream for the one-year anniversary of Evening Rumination, no promises though.