Gloaming by Gloaming

Lovelies,

A few years ago I had a panic episode on the summer solstice.

I'd spent the prior two months watching sunsets. Every night — and I mean I didn't miss one — I made my way past "no admittance" signs to my building's battered roof. We know sunsets are beautiful but I believe they are also serious: scheduled loss, primordial neglect. Like going to work, I'd watch and locate feelings. I'm proud to say gloaming by gloaming I collected myself into an entirely more intact person.

But then the summer solstice came! And the thought of tomorrow being just 1.5 minutes shorter was, apparently, too much to bear.

I was, as they say, anxiously attached.

Well now here I am, in my least favorite month, having the inverse experience.

I'm digging this darkness. 

I suspect it's because the past year has been impossibly bright. I've said it before: your home catching fire and releasing an app are both, more than anything, SOCIAL experiences. And your devoted moody songstress is nothing if not wildly introverted. As far as I'm concerned this darkness can be as deep as it likes and take me with it. I'm expanding into the spaces between street lights. I'm curling up in shadows with my secrets. I'm doing my workdays not just in my bed but UNDER THE COVERS!

I'm also trusting this dark's fertility: I see the year I had, I see the 2026 I want to have, and I may even have the beginnings of a (bold-choice-requiring) plan. 

With light,

And all my love,

Rachel

If you could see inside my mind it would look like this. I've vocal-edited nineteen songs over the past sixty days — nine of which are POP songs meaning they have up to ten layers of background vocals. If that seems daunting, believe me it's a terribly satisfying journey from myopic (quieting mouth noises, aligning breaths) to grand (there is nothing like ten layers of pop vocals!!). Somehow all four of my current projects are finishing at once so prepare yourselves for a 2026 release deluge.