These songs were mostly made during a two week period in the Spring of 2023.

Two of the tracks had already been started more than a year prior, but they weren't much more than two late-night improvised demos consisting of an echo-y guitar loop (track 1) and a late-night improvised synth take (track 3).

Around the first week of April, 2023, I fell into a bad depression. This one was particularly intense, and I spent most of my time lying down, unable to do anything. The rest of my time was spent on these songs, attempting to put to music the way I was feeling.

During the second week, I watched Yasujirō Ozu's 1953 film, Tokyo Story, which ultimately inspired the last track. The name was inspired by a line towards the end of the film, "そうか。 おしまい かの", roughly meaning "So, this is the end.". It felt fitting for the way depression makes you feel like you've reached an end, like there's nowhere left for you to go, and the track was meant to reflect that feeling. But as it came together, it sounded much more peaceful than I originally had in mind.

One day, just as suddenly as it came on, the depression lifted. Coming out of those two weeks, I realized that So This Is The End was a perfect end to the album, and that "The End" wasn't an end to happiness or to life, but really an end to the darkness. It was the light at the end of the tunnel.

So, here is The Small Hours. I hope you enjoy, and thanks for listening.

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Track 1 inspired by the album World of Echo by Arthur Russell.
Music based on an idea originally recorded in January 2022.
Title from the poem "The Small Hours" by Dorothy Parker.

Track 2 title from the poem "I felt a Funeral, in my Brain" by Emily Dickinson.

Track 3 title from Les Champs Magnétiques by André Breton and Philippe Soupault.
Based on an idea originally recorded in September 2021.

Track 4 title and music inspired by the film Tokyo Story (1953).

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Composite album cover photo taken during those two weeks in Spring while lying in bed.

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Watch the music video for The Small Hours:
youtu.be/cMYKUacb_0c