As a creative, it has always been imperative for my art to speak to its moment without feeling confined to any particular zeitgeist. Timelessness cannot be forced. Instead, it must be cultivated naturally through curiosity, trust, and patience. That’s why I’m proud to say that I’ve finally realized isolation should be the prevailing theme of my album about the COVID-19 pandemic.
I can still vividly recall – back in 2020 – when the coronavirus was declared a pandemic and everything started shutting down. The loss of regular in-person human contact was disorienting, to say the least. As was being confined to my basement studio, which didn’t get much in the way of sunlight. I knew this period – however long it may be – necessitated chronicling. What I struggled to arrive at was an overarching concept, one that evoked not just this era-defining event but also bridged it to humanity and its inherent need for connection. I knew it would come to me eventually. But when?
There were a few false starts. For instance, in October 2020, I thought the theme could be “werewolves” but then I remembered I had just rewatched “The Howling.” Then, I think it’s a murderous bipedal revenge demon until nope, I had just rewatched “Pumpkinhead.” I was kind of freaking out about it once stuff started opening back up. For my own peace of mind, I had to let go and let it come to me. I won’t say my hope didn’t waver at times. But I never gave up entirely. The other night, as I was falling asleep, it suddenly hit me five years later: isolation.
Like, just think about it. The pandemic was a time of distance, physically, emotionally, and mentally. I’ll never forget – on about the fourth day of quarantine I started looking through old yearbooks and talking to my cat like he was my therapist. If that’s not isolation, I don’t know what is.
It didn’t stop there. If anything, this sense of isolation grew the more time I spent by myself, gradually losing touch with the outside world. It may seem like an obvious theme in hindsight. But some things can only be realized in hindsight. And I truly believe that the time spent waiting for it to come to me has only strengthened my ability to communicate it.
And the best part? The lyrics are all already taken care of thanks to ChatGPT.