#004

I don't have too much to say right now. Me second album is out this Friday and if anything I've felt a bit guilty about not having as much time to promote it. I ended up getting a job on the weekdays that takes a lot of energy out of me, but at the same time I feel less stressed about making sure the music is enough to sustain me when it's realistically hard for everyone right now. Every day I see more people with "exciting" careers supplement themselves with some other job(s) to make it all work. As tough as it is, there's something comforting about knowing we're all trying to keep doing the things that bring us fulfillment.

At the same time I think a lot of us feel spread thin. A lot of things need our attention, but it's hard to give any of it the 100% it may deserve. I'm working on being nicer to myself about this process. I can only give within my means. I can listen to what my loved ones need from me and do my best to deliver. Even though it’s a terrible habit of mine, there's not much use in beating myself up over what's outside of my control.

I made 'Floating Worlds' so I could enjoy the solitude I had after tour last year. The album is meant to unpack the feeling of disappointment and frustration I had with where the music industry is at and what I'm able to do about my own experience of it. I was realizing I could never depend on anyone, especially the bigger artists I've encountered for any advice about what to do with my own project. At the same time I was absorbing so much art and literature that made me realize it wasn't this isolated experience, and that if other people have gone through it, there's a chance I can make it to a better place too. I just needed to trust that I am on my own path.

Promoting an album can always feel a bit weird and kind of selfish, especially now when it looks like the world has much more serious things we should all be worried about. At the very least I try to focus on connecting more with people that are listening and understand what I'm trying to do with my songs. I've been building a new live set to tour with early next year. I started writing new song ideas to exercise more of what I learned from my album. All of that sort of stuff can be self-indulgent until it's shared, so I think it's important that I try to be more responsive to people that care about the art I've made. It's the very least I can do, and it helps keep the worst thoughts about being a musician away. It's so easy to worry about anything you do being enough. It's harder to keep showing love to yourself and others when it feels like so much is working against you, but doing so has never made me feel bad. Making art doesn't make me feel bad. That's what I have to keep at the front of my mind all the time, and I hope that's what people get to experience with this project.

Excited for you to finally hear it this week.

-Lu