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I am pleased to say I have a forthcoming collection of songs entitled Their Symposium. It is my first full-length album, and it will be accessible in August of 2021. The songs are new in respect to their arrangements on the record, although, on personal terms, some of them reach as far back as four years to their initial composition. I am by no means suggesting they are dull or unappreciated; I would say our relationship is more akin to opening the door to an old companion.
Since the release of my last major project in 2018, the EP I Hope It’s Calm, Then,I have actively toured Canada, the UK, and Europe. I mean, I used to. I did. And when I did, I was fortunate to share the stage with many brilliant musicians, such as The Deep Dark Woods, Charlotte Cornfield, and Sam Lynch. I released a few singles along the way while focusing on writing and performing new material. And now, as our previous world continues to circulate through the washing machine of Covid-19, I have concluded it is suitable to put forth an album.
As I have said, most of these songs are not newly written. They have existed in countless performances, they have undergone numerous dissections; they have sat idle, changed faces and moods, and have made many strange friends. They have endured and, in a sense, have surpassed me, are now outside of me, having adopted an entity as such that if I heard one of their names called, I would say, “Yes, I know who that is.”
The distinctiveness of this cast of characters is the unique idea and moment which each one embodies. I could welcome them into my home, show them a seat for their comfort, and if I asked them to express themselves, they would indeed all have something contrasting to say.
This, I reckon, is what the record is; a gathering of entities aiming to share their thoughts on a particular subject — me. And yet, it is me who is revisited through these entities, for as much as I may recognize “them,” at all times I know “they are me.” If this sounds needlessly self-absorbed, it’s because it is. But please, I am the subject, and this is Their Symposium. I do hope they have something decent to tell you.
—Z. K.