I’m sitting at a table, wondering what it means to be forgotten. Maybe also what it means to forget. One is passive while the other is active, though they both feel very passive when you think about it. There’s a park near my house. I’m walking around, watching the sun set and the shadows deepen. I’m listening to something I won’t bore you by talking about. There’s a party somewhere. Everyone’s going. Maybe I’m there, maybe you are. We’re never there together.

Somehow, every time summer rolls around, I start thinking this way. I feel guilty; I don’t really have time to burn anymore. I’m getting older now, I’m not 17 anymore, I’m not 18 anymore, I’m not 19 anymore. Let me tell you about a dream I had a few years ago. I dreamt that I bumped into you at Paris Charles de Gaulle, at a clothing store I think. The shopkeeper told me that you’d be active on Discord soon. The sun was setting, and as we sat on a rusted metallic roundabout, you whispered something in my ear. I don’t remember what you said, but it probably wasn’t very important. One more dream: I dreamt I saw you at a Korean café one night. You were older than I was, maybe a little taller too. I think you were looking at flyers for shows in the area. You said you were excited to listen to the new songs I was working on. Endlessly supportive. It’s still funny to me, all things considered. I was essentially saying those words to myself. I haven’t worked on new songs in years.

There’s so many people here. I’m trying to cover the older version of this draft with my arms – a lot of it is very embarrassing, and a lot of it I don’t even think I believe. It’s been a while since I wrote it down. I was trying to be honest, but maybe I was also trying to hurt myself with those words. This whole “thing” often feels like a humiliation ritual for me, but at least it’s something to do. I’ll keep going. There’s a forest nearby. The ground is covered with snow, and it’s dark enough that you can’t see more than a few feet in front of you. Your phone is still connected to the internet though. You get a notification. You’re never truly alone nowadays. You can still see the lights from far away. You can hear the cars go by if you listen closely.

Finally – we’re at a train station. I always thought these were places of change. Looking back, I’m a little ashamed of some of the choices I made, and I wish I could go back and fix some of the details here and there. I wish I could’ve said a little more. But oh well. I would like to think that the imperfections represent who I was back then as well as who I am now, like a small time capsule of my life. Finished is better than perfect anyways. The train’s almost here, so I’ll try to get to the point before it arrives. Now that the album’s done, I am trying to be content with the fact that I am essentially throwing a drop of water that I worked on for about three years into an endless ocean. I am not sure what path my life will take or how much I’ve inadvertently sacrificed because I was working on this record, but I made a promise to myself a long time ago that I would never stop making things like this, and if nothing else I am happy that I’ve kept it. The process of working on these 11 songs has been one of the most fulfilling experiences of my life. I wouldn’t trade it for the world.

The name of this record is “Tether Me to You”. It’s 11 songs, 52 minutes and 8 seconds long. Recorded June 4th 2023 - January 19th 2026. I hope you enjoy it. I hope we can all catch our trains on time.