There’s a song that came before this one, the version of which I think will never see the light of day, that almost broke me. I’ve been thinking about that insane Art Garfunkel in-studio rant that was famously recorded then leaked, and while most of it is insufferable drivel, there’s one part that he got right. ‘It wanted to have air to mix with it’s, I dunno, I think I’m starting to hate it except I know I love it. It’s been chased away somehow. Somehow something wonderful was lurking behind all of the pausing and the techno-realities of our job. Here’s a classic case of whatever was fertile about it which I was connected with about an hour and half ago has ground down...’ The techno-realities. Anyway- as I was saying, the song that came before this one almost ground me down into the dirt. And I think that’s because, as the man said, the techno-realities were obscuring what was fertile and luminous and free about the whole experience of making records. Shouldn’t it all feel like magic, as often as possible? If we could, wouldn’t we float freely from one inspiration to the next? Isn’t that what called us to this in the first place? And how do you conjure back up that magic in the face of the ever-growing techno realities, the entropy of ambition mixing with varying perceptions of success mixing with forces that have very little to do with making music? So I convinced Madi at the last minute to join myself and a huge group of friends at sonic ranch, where we’d rented out two studios and all the adjoining rooms. I knew she was struggling, too. And, I knew, as is always the case, just the act of making music with good friends with no strings attached- without any pressure for it to be successful or make money or stream well or any of that- was the best way back to the light. -continued in comments-