FAINT WAVES

It’s been a strange couple of months. A lot of light, a lot of darkness, a lot of confusion. A lot of warmth. A lot of cold. I’ve felt lost, forlorn, irritated, but ultimately driven forward; all things you could glean from (or project onto) this James Dean piece.

Lately, I’ve had a disquiet mind at times. Things were solid for quite a while there (still are in a lot of respects), a lot of much needed balance and calm, as well as recovery after all the fatigue I’ve felt for close to two years now. I’m still doing better than I was last year, I just seem to be working my way out of a valley of dysregulated emotions (something I’m unfortunately very familiar with). Some of it I think is a bit of “anniversary effect” too, there’s a lot of difficulty wrapped up in this time of year from the last couple years. May not sound “traumatic” but the most immediate thing that comes to mind is that my cat was briefly ill and passed away this time last year. That was devastating, not just because I lost a loyal pet and best friend, but because he helped me through the most painful and harrowing times of my life. I credit that animal with my mental and physical recovery; sincerely, I may not be here if it weren’t for him. He was like my north star and he held such significance in my life, had such a presence in my heart and in my mind, that I’ve thought about him every day since he went. He’s truly irreplaceable and has left a hole in my life, that remains there now, a year later. I don’t know that there’s anything that can be done, I can only keep living and value that I’m still here. He really liked to go out in the backyard, being the indoor/outdoor cat that he was, so I try and spend more time out there these days. We take a lot for granted that animals don’t.

On a more positive note, I’m happy to say that there’s finally some new music over at A2K Recordings (I haven’t forgotten about it!). I released a one-off single from a Springfield (my hometown) native, that being “Queen City” by DJ “Dusty” Woo. It had kind of been sitting around since last year so I figured I’d take some initiative and get it out there finally. It’s a simple, nostalgic beat that’s informed by the 90’s golden age of Hip-Hop. It’s available for name your price. A2K will probably be where I release my Alternative/Baggy/Chillwave EP, too, should it ever get finished. Fingers crossed for this year still. I am trying to “lock-in” music-wise, without running myself into the ground. There are many things I’d like to get done.

On a similar note too, I’ve got cover art for the next Faint Waves outing, its a single called La Bellesa and it’s on a similar tip to what I released this time last year (Amore Mio Dolce). That visual component is similar at least. Musically, it’s a bit different, but kindred enough to be considered a spiritual successor of sorts. Again, this is one of those unplanned things that just sort of came together. I had the track titles sitting around, I had some unused material sitting around, the stars sort of aligned sound-wise. As I often do, it’s an A-Side/B-Side thing; “La Bellesa” and “El Campari” are the tracks. “La Bellesa” actually has its roots in a cinematic intro I wrote for my Paradise EP back in 2024, that intro track was titled “Agua”. “Agua” was left on the cutting room floor as it didn’t really suit the EP and its more Chillwave and Dream Pop-tinged sound. I repurposed it and wrote the rest of “La Bellesa” around/attached to it. B-Side, “El Campari”, was a demo I was initially preparing to send off to Café Del Mar. The sound ended up going a different direction and it was suddenly better suited to this project than anything else. It’s basically slow Disco, but there’s a vaguely romantic, soundtrack-y presence to it as well.

I’m not going to have that out this month, probably, I’ve got a lot going on with life and work. That said, it’s coming along great and you can look forward to an early June release for sure. There’s more stuff coming down the line, too. I just need to prioritize some personal life things and get those out of the way first. That’s been the theme of the last nine months of my life, rejuvenating myself but also sorting things out in favor of a better, more organized future. As for the site, I’ve got a few articles coming down the line, too. I’ve got a piece on Dire Straits and a piece on a specific ZZ Top album, as well as whatever crops up between now and then, some posts happen spur of the moment. In closing, you know, I hope you’re doing well if you read this. I am, I think. Just sad and angry sometimes. It’s okay to feel those things, a lot of people will tell you it’s not, I am not one of them. I just advise you to express that in a healthy way, that doesn’t hurt you or anyone else.

Thanks for reading.

~ FW.