It’s Cool Ranch man. It’s that good. The tough ones are always the best ones. I have a close friend that is an amazing singer/songwriter. All of his albums are beautifully arranged and perfectly produced. But it’s always the one song that he’s vulnerable on that is clearly the best on each album. Now if he could just make a full length album with that much vulnerability, he’d be on to something. I like your voice on this. You should work to have it more out front like this, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have rich and layered backing vocals. The lyrics are superb. I relate heavily to them. I think I’m probably better than most at the relating with strangers thing, but it is still alarmingly lonely when the majority of your interactions are “how about the weather..” I too feel like I’m losing myself. Like I’m disappearing. There’s a ton of inertia behind some of the choices I’ve made. No turning back now. It’s scary stuff. But, we’ve got this and we aren’t going anywhere. Keep making music like this and you’ll never disappear, my friend. I couldn’t like this song any more than I do. It’s the tops. Full on Dorito. Onward!This was a tough one to make both in terms of subject matter and stylistics- didn't feel right masking the vocals in a bunch of layers and effects because it made it sound too fortified. But it's tough for me to just let the voice stand out above the mix, esp. when the lyrics are so brutal.
I imagine that very, very many of your interactions these days are with strangers. And that can be fine, but spending too much time away from one's household/community and loved ones really grinds a person down. I'm sure you feel that acutely. But maybe you have to disappear a little in order to build something bigger than yourself? Or maybe that sense of fading, if it doesn't swallow you, acts as a motivator to make a lasting mark. I dunno. It's tough to balance. You're building something huge, though! Onward! I'ma start using "Dorito" as my new signifier for greatness. It is, after all, the ultimate snack