It’s the two albums I released this year and what they look like.
I: Musically.
When an artist releases an album that is hugely acclaimed, the idea of coming up with a follow-up can be understandably daunting. Turns out this is true for small artists as well as well known ones. My first Enofa album, 2018’s Arboretum, took me by surprise in terms of how well received it was: all 100 copies sold out in a couple of days, it got uniformly great reviews, and ended up on a number of end-of-year lists. Throw in the fact that it was creatively satisfying and, on a technical level, probably my best made album to date, and it was an all-round success.
And then I had no idea what to do next. Between mid-2018 – before it was even released – and early this year, I recorded a LOT of music. Something like six or seven albums’ worth. A number of potential albums were put together out of this material – Skymusyk, The First Day, Großglockner, Skymusyk (a different album), Mono Music, Ellyten, Fluvial Lake, and at least one that never received a title – but ultimately none of them were good enough. Or maybe they were? They didn’t feel like it at the time, at least.
I spent a lot of this year trying to work out what the fuck to do with all this material. Some tracks were ripped apart, and used as the basis for collaborative projects. Others were scrapped. The remaining tracks eventually formed the basis of two albums. The first was called Nerra Ninna Noak, and is pictured above in two CD editions. Despite being released on the same label as Arboretum, and being stylistically similar, it failed to reach the same level of interest as that album. There’s a lesson: never try to repeat the past! It’s got some lovely material on, but to me it feels like what it is: a desperate attempt to fashion an album together when there isn’t enough suitable material. A second album from these sessions, entitled All Roads Lead to Polesworth, will be out next year on Third Kind. It’s all over the place, but at least I really like every track on it!
My other 2020 album was created separately from the rest of it, over a period of a fortnight, when I just sat down with a bunch of samples and knocked a load of stuff out. The best tracks made a great little 38 minute record called Paxanimi. It reminded me that spontaneity is a huge part of my own creativity, and the lack of it played a huge part in the mess that was those two years of constant dead ends.
So in the new year I’m going to start work on the fifth Enofa album, with a certain renewed, refreshed mindset. I don’t have any concrete plans and will let my creativity take me where it wants to go, but I am hoping to make it sound a little more personal than a lot of what I’ve been making lately. Hopefully you’ll be able to hear at least some of that at some point in 2021.
II: Personally.
I won’t deny that it’s been a tough year. The original plans of getting my life back on track – starting to look at moving away and living something resembling a normal life – have obviously been put on hold. It’s a reminder that relying on future plans is inherently daft as 99% of everything that happens to you is out of your control. Still, being forced to stay here was initially utterly devestating. My mental health has gone up and down a lot since then, but despite currently wading through a bout of autistic burnout, I have lately been able to work out some necessary changes that I plan on putting into action in the new year.
I quite like the idea of New Year as a celebration – some people say it’s pointless, but given that so much of our life revolves around the calendar, to me it has a lot more relevance to contemporary life than most holidays – but I’ll be the first to admit that the reason most resolutions go to pot is that people tend to make them because of the time of year, rather than because they have the real desire to change (why put off until tomorrow etc.) That said, the festive period came about as I decided on my changes, so following Christmas, Lucy’s birthday and NYE, new year seems like a wise time to make changes to diet, lifestyle and routine.
I’m overweight. I don’t want to be. Since my weight has risen noticably in the past couple of years, I’ve noticed far more physical problems: aches and pains, stomach problems, generally feeling less fit, a rise in my cholesterol, early symptoms that suggest I could end up diabetic without lifestyle changes. So I’m going to be doing more exercise and eating better. I know can do both of these things because I’ve done them before. So I can do them again. I’m also going to drink less. Not only because of the health benefits, but also because when I drink every I stop actually enjoying the beer and realise I’m just doing it out of habit.
My health will also be helped by changes to overall lifestyle and routine. I stay up too late, while I know that getting up early and taking Rosey out for a long walk always sets my day off to a great start. I spend too much time online, I spend music-making time doing stressful things (scouring for samples, clicking buttons at my computer) rather than playing music for the fun of it. I ALWAYS HAVE TOO MANY THINGS ON THE GO. TV shows I’m watching, albums I’m trying to get into, albums I’m making, books I’m reading, etc., etc., etc. Simplifying my time at home will not only help me keep a clear head and improve my mental health, but it will allow me to spend more time outdoors without worrying about all the things on my mental checklists I could be doing if I stayed at home.
And, expanding on that, I need to buy less music. I’ve said, for several years now, that I reached Peak Music a while ago and no longer feel able to take in everything I try and get into, and this year that’s been worse than ever. There’s not enough time in the year to listen to all the albums I already own, let alone get several new albums a week. I spend so much time and effort these days trying to find new electronic music that I end up listening to five or six times before admitting to myself that it doesn’t do much for me. The number of new electronic artists I’ve got into in the last ten years is about four or five, and all my searching is basically FOMO. I’ll still keep half an ear open for new indie and pop stuff, but frankly I’m a fan of enough active artists to keep me in music for a year as it is. Again, it’s time to slow down. Music should be something I listen to to enjoy, not a cultural race to see how many new and ‘relevant’ artists I can check off in a year.
Maybe because it’s my favourite time of year, but I always do end each year in a really positive frame of mind for the coming twelve months. This time, I think that, were it not for Covid (damn – there was me thinking I could get through this without saying the ‘c’ word!), many of those positives for 2020 would have come around. So here’s to 2021. Maybe in 12 months time I’ll be healthier and happier and moving forward with my life in a more positive way!
enofa 