En concert le 26 novembre à La Maroquinerie

Here & Nowhere Else is, like all the other Cloud Nothings records, an attempt to make my version of a series of perfect songs - the only thing that changes from album to album is my headspace at the times of their creation. With this record, I had been travelling the world almost non-stop for about two years, essentially rendering me homeless and often feeling identity-less as well, so I began to focus on keeping my inner self balanced since my surroundings were constantly changing.

The lyrics on this record have a calmer, more "zen" slant to them. Anger was my primary method of lyrically dealing with life's uncertainties on the prior records, but on H&NE that anger has subsided and been replaced with a more open worldview - questioning and thinking about topics that I would have previously responded to with a more reckless attitude. The songs are about the same types of things that I consistently think about (feelings like the ones expressed in 'Stay Useless' and 'Wasted Days'), but they approach them in a different, less negative but ultimately simpler way.

The music follows suit, advancing harmonically and dynamically from previous records, but simplifying the actual song in the process. I feel that these songs are much more effective statements of purpose than anything else I've written. I tried to incorporate more open space into the music, not filling in every void with sound, and making the chord voicings more like suggestions for what you can hear rather than full, exact chords. This creates a lot of possibilities for the listener to interpret the record in their own way, and reinforces the general theme of eschewing knee-jerk anger responses for a more open-minded perspective.

Looking back, it seems very easy to view each record as a step towards growing up, and this one really feels like the beginning stages of a new sort of maturity.

Here's some Fun Facts

- Every song was written in a different country
- Some parts of the songs are taken from things I made as far back as high school