Seven Milestones of a Covid-era album
How we looked back in June 2019
June, 2019
I reach out to a producer I’ve long admired to chat about the project.
Confession: I cry during our first meeting as I share about why it’s been so hard for me to consistently make music, the self-doubt that drowns me, the insecurity that makes me want to keep burying my passion… The very patient Jon Seale (Mason Jar Music) sits and listens.
January 10, 2020
The first day of recording. Over 3 days, we lay the skeleton of the 10 tracks of the album with Will Graefe on guitar(s) and Jason Burger on drums. It’s an incredible experience watching other brilliant musicians breathe life into my songs and make them so much more than what I thought they could be.
Jon’s studio in a Brooklyn brownstone is just right for these songs. Being in an old house, in the city I’d started my family, surrounded by beautifully aged instruments and equipment... I step into a musical haven every time I’m there.
March 1, 2020
We finish laying down the tracks — with bass, strings, and piano added one at a time. Each instrumentalist brings so much heart and incredible skill to the tracks I could cry all day listening to them. I feel unbelievably honored to have them grace my songs with their craft.
We take a little break for Jon to prepare the tracks for me to sing to, thinking we’ll be back in the studio in a few weeks… But of course, that doesn’t happen.
November 3, 2020
Eight months and an era later… On the day America votes for her next president, I go back to the studio to finally add vocals to the songs. In those eight months, I thought about giving up the project, despaired a little… but ultimately channeled my mountain of feelings into re-writing more than half the songs, because I just didn’t feel like I was who I had been at the start of the project.
I love the way Jon emphasizes the emotions coming through as I sing above all else. I feel my self-consciousness slowly fade as I visualize, remember, imagine the words I sing, and pour my soul into my voice the best I can.
January 12, 2021
Jon sends me the mixed and mastered versions of the songs. Mark and I listen to the tracks in the car, and it feels so, so, so good.
I had been preparing myself to feel a growing dread at the end of this process — knowing the way I’ve historically started hating my work as soon as it nears completion. But this time around I had a lot of wise voices (i.e. not mine) in my head. One refrain I kept repeating to myself, which had been shared with me by a mentor figure, was that these songs are not a culmination of who I am/who I’ll ever be. They’re a reflection of where I am and what I’m doing right now. That’s all they have to be.
February 6, 2021
The photoshoot! Maybe it’s being married to a man with a long-held love for photography — but I deeply value the importance of good images that tell a story. And I’d always felt to do that (as someone who isn’t particularly gifted in this area) I would need all kinds of resources: a great space, a H/MU artist to treat me as a canvas, an art director/stylist to create a special world of the music. I had worked with an incredible team (Carmen Chan, Christie Lee, Kelsea Olivia, Drift Studio) for my last album, and I was feeling dismayed that with the realities of Covid life, I would have to let go of this value.
Then I started talking to Jo Lees — a dear friend, fellow (pregnant!) mother, Harlem neighbor — and her ideas blew me away. Though I was self-conscious of our “boring” NYC apartment, Jo insisted that it would work as a location. She sent me art boards, suggestions, links to outfits… And then showed up that Saturday and made magic happen.
March 19, 2021
In 7 days, the 7th milestone of Dream Again being released in the world will be hit.
Gahhhhh!
P.s. If you’re a Spotify person, please do pre-save my album so you get a notification to listen as soon as it’s out. It’s a great way to support me. :)
