I invite you into my day-dream —a comfortably enclosed mountain meadow, soaked by the golden sun of a perfect summer day that will never end... Here you'll find the honest joy that I find in my ongoing reverie, as well as my melancholy and feelings of isolation. You'll also find me in a moment of realisation, where I acknowledge a gut feeling that's been irking me for some time: I no longer belong here. It's what's Beyond The Meadow that calls me forward. What I long for. But I am deeply conflicted and afraid to leave the safety of this golden dream behind. Afraid of what I might lose if I leave. And afraid of what I might lose if I remain.
I feel like this album means so many things to me, but one thing in particular seems to be the main one. I've really struggled to come to terms with and to fully accept that I am on this earth to be a storyteller, to make music & art, and to perform. It's been a long and truly painful struggle at times fighting against that critical inner voice that says "who do you think you are? you're nothing special. you'll never be as good as." Stepping beyond the meadow for me means breaking away from my self-limiting world and into the world as we know it, as my full self (all the dark and light shades included), present and wanting to rise to the challenges ahead.
Of course I don't think we will ever be rid of these voices completely. But we can surely try to find a way to dance with them, and to do our best to remain one step ahead. And my gut says that authentic connection with other people plays a massive part of achieving that ongoing task. A commitment to seeing and being seen.
I can't express to you how grateful I am to share this with you. And to be able to present something I'm so proud of, that has been elevated by the craft and talents of the incredible musicians and creatives I was able to work with along the way.
I hope for you that this album gives you a nudge if you need it. The validation to know that your intuition is worth listening to; and that, in the words of Rumi, "What you seek is also seeking you..."