About the Album
At the beginning of 2023, I made a promise to myself to write as many songs as possible by the end of the year. Many of these songs were throwaways, and some ended up in my other project with Malcolm Craig, The Aubreys. I soon noticed a recurring theme in my writing: identity, my place in the world, anxiety, becoming a young adult, losing relationships, feeling uncomfortable with my emotions—basically, all the good stuff. These songs felt more personal than usual, so I saved them in a folder for some future, unknown project. That summer, while visiting my friend Cadien in Chicago, he introduced me to the band Lifeguard. I quickly became friends with them, and we went out for lunch after an amazing in-store show they played at Shuga Records. The guitarist and lead singer, Kai Slater, and I bonded over our love for power pop and early Beatles music. He mentioned he had a solo project called Sharp Pins, so I went home and listened to his record, Turtle Rock. It quickly became my favorite album I’d heard in years; the melodies and the warm sound of the 4-track tape made it hard for me to listen to anything else. Kai and I stayed in touch, and that winter, we started swapping songs we were writing. One day, I called him and asked if he’d produce a record for me. He said yes, so I flew out to freezing cold Chicago, where he introduced me to his roommates and friends, all incredible people and artists. Whenever we needed extra hands or someone to play a part on a song, they were always ready to jump in. We tracked eight songs between Kai’s apartment, his band’s rehearsal space (which, coincidentally, was where I recorded the first Calpurnia record), and Palisades Studios. I really wanted the record to feel authentic—raw and unpolished. If we recorded in Kai’s living room, I wanted to hear the sounds of the house: footsteps, keys dropping in a bowl, a kettle boiling in the kitchen. Kai knew how to bring this out in me, thanks to his production background and his relationship with 4- to 8-track cassette tape recording. On the last day of recording, I came down with something. We finished the vocals for our last song and went out for dinner with friends, but I passed out early. I ended up staying on Kai’s couch for a week and a half with pneumonia. We grew much closer that week, and while I’m not glad about the pneumonia, I was grateful for the care. It was a hell of a way to finish a record.
The new album “Happy Birthday” out June 6, 2025.
