Barely There Studio presents...'LEFT THE WORLD BEHIND' by Lucy Dawn (***NEW ALBUM COMING $OON***)

27 minutes, 11 seconds

 

         Recorded at Barely There Studio (North MS), March - Sept. 2024 and May 2025  

Produced, engineered and mixed by Lucy Gaither. 

Mastered by A.G.

PERSONNEL:

LUCY DAWN: Vox + Guitars / Bass / Keys / Tambourine 

Drums: Roland Turner / Joey Lauretta*  ("DISTANT VOWS" -  Rec. 2019*)

Lead Guitar: Smash Addams (backing vocal on "REALITY")

 

LUCY DAWN'S 14th solo LP!

PRE-ORDER NEW SINGLE APRIL 11!

RYAN ADAMS, 'Career Ender' [imagined LP]

 

RYAN ADAMS 

Career Ender [unreleased 2000-18]

01. Your Love is an Impossible Dream

02. Black Myrtle

03. Parts of Me

04. Ghost

05. Sad What We Do to Feel Love

06. It Won't Heal

07. Juliette

08. Like the Lies She Tells to Me

09. In the Shadows

10. Walls

11. Perfect and True

12. The Last Dance

Mastered in 432 Hz. from the best possible sources with additional touches where needed. Several songs were sourced from Ryan's IG. This might be considered too short by die-hard fans like I used to be. I don't give a shit about hearsay---but if you know, you know. After serious Ryan music fatigue from years of close analysis, listening, etc.---I have found this short collection (it's normal for the glory days of LPs---the 60s---and attention spans these days is about there) to be something that still feels kinda fresh and reinforces why the hell we gave this guy so much attention in the first place! If you feel like I do---that this guy peaked back in 2006? Yeah, this is for you. Everybody has an opinion---just like everyone has a mouth and an asshole. What you do with either is none of my concern. 

That being said---let's get to the goddamned music (haha). "Your Love is an Impossible Dream" sounds like an updated "To Be Young" to the listener maybe familiar with his past works. I know a lot of folks only like that one song by him. It's a damn good live sounding (with overdubs, probably) jam with my favourite period of The Cardinals (2005). I believe this one and a few others you can find on YouTube (TheGraciousFew) are from sessions at Sear Sound Studios. Feel free to check my earlier posts related to DRA for more insight. I don't do these as often---because I don't think about the guy except to see what crazy shit he's done now (like a distant cousin that doesn't talk to you). But ill-fated tribute albums aside (see Whether We Make It Or Not: A Tribute to David Ryan Adams from 2021), this is the stuff that used to inspire me. The fearlessness he had going into the studio with some of the coolest players around...just a list of song titles and probably ideas he pretended to 'come up with on the spot' still laying around, hehe (see the interview he did a few years ago where he plays "Sad What We Do to Feel Love" and says it's a 'new song' to the interviewer...I know that trick).

The second song we go into is, "Black Myrtle" from the Easy Tiger sessions from 2006 to early 2007. This song was on a promotional disc with other tunes Ryan did with the backing of the next Cardinals iteration (including the late Neal Casal). I personally find the album itself to be Ryan's move into Starbucks music territory. Your results may vary. To me, he started going right for the middle of the fucking road. Still some good songs to be found. This is one of them. It's not like my opinion should stop you! You might ask, what about "Song X"? (fill in the blank on what song you think I should've also included)---well, variety and being concise are key factors to listening engagement. This is not necessarily for the converted---but the people who never tried to interact with him and/or don't know his music for more than just radio friendly shit. He does know his way around a melody and the strings.

"Parts of Me" (AKA "Number 3") is taken from the Blackhole 2006 promotional disc I hope you heard before the badly sourced compilation of the same name RA put out last year! Maybe Ryan should do like YE and ask his fans to contribute files since he seems to be almost in the same boat with the bootleggers on who has the best sourced unreleased stuff! Good luck with that interaction, folks. Now, this song definitely encapsulates the raw, unhinged rocker side that he 'cultivated' on 2003's Rock N' Roll (and then he just turned into Petty Springsteen lite somewhere a decade down the line). The re-done vocals and the poorly sourced MP3 mastered files just ruin what was already a great record by 2010 (the second time he said 'It's ready!'). 

Next, we revisit the DRA's probably most fertile writing and recording period between the Heartbreaker and Love is Hell albums (2000-03). "Ghost" sounds like it would have been on the radio somewhere in that time. There's a lot of good material from this time, but it all is based on the same subject matter (so to speak). I'd recommend seeking out the 48 Hours, Suicide Handbook, etc. unreleased albums that his old label Lost Highway essentially bootlegged for us, haha. For the sake of sticking to the script, we must move on to the previously mentioned "Sad What We Do to Feel Love" (also taken from the Sear Sound Sessions with The Cardinals in 2005).

I first heard a clip of this track on a bootlegged promo of the Jacksonville City Nights album sessions (when it was still called September). Again, just a raw sounding awesome and gritty little jam that for me is a highlight whether you are looking for Cardinals-era stuff you haven't heard or not. Perhaps Ryan will re-do the song for his 3xLP Self Portrait record of leftovers he's mentioned recently? I'll read about it. This is the version. I haven't been able to get excited about anything this man's done since I heard how awful Cardinology turned out. Some good songs to be found...but it's really hard to make even a compilation of his stuff without it feeling same-y. That's not just him. It's also a matter of taste and like I've said---you may feel differently. But to the wandering or casual listener, there is good stuff to get your attention and if its varied enough....maybe keep your attention, too. 

Moving on to the era that really bored the shit out of me---we have a track that could've been a radio single (maybe I'm wrong)---to fan the flames of the adult contemporary shit and the 'haven't I heard this already' feeling of the 'Self-Titled / Prisoner era'. "It Won't Heal" was shared on RA's Instagram page in 2024 to acknowledge the 10th anniversary of the s/t album. It's believed to be from the scrapped 2nd album sessions produced with Glyn Johns in 2013. In order to hear a whole sounding song, I looped a section from the shared clip and extended it instrumentally to fill it out. 'Good ears!' to the guy who picked that detail out on Gracious Few's YT page. You're welcome, folks.

"Juliette" (AKA "Color Bars") is the title track of the promo disc of the same name from 2006 featuring tracks from the Cardinals' rejected third album (which eventually evolved into a solo billed album, Easy Tiger). Sounds like a re-purposed riff from the also then-cancelled (this is how you spell that word...enough of this single 'L' shit---stop trying to change facts...same goes for words like judgement and likeable) 2006 release of Blackhole. The song seems to continue RA's descent from alt-country genius into dumb rock song territory. If you like that kind of thing, the 2010 compilation of Cardinals pre-ET leftovers, III-IV, is for you.

"Like the Lies She Tells to Me" dates back to pre-Heartbreaker era (a recording in a small, possibly home studio set up somewhere with Gillian Welch, earlier in 2000). The DRA shared it on his IG back in 2023 (I think)---something to do with material that wasn't on the Heartbreaker 15th anniversary (like they didn't ask him? Dunno). Nice rootsy tune that sounds more like the Ryan Adams we started out listening to. It's a shame he's abandoned this sound and style for the more derivative schtick cosplaying of Tom Petty, Springsteen, Dylan and Morrissey. Also, burning bridges with his old producer Ethan Johns? Fix that shit, bud. Make that record you claimed you were making back in 2003 with him, Norah and the gang?

I originally included "Orange Rinds (Who is Gonna Save Me Now)"--a song that dates back to Ryan's last creative gasp and recording in a major studio in 2018. Taken from the 'Summer of 69 Demos' sessions---which yielded some 48 tracks that later appeared on albums like Big Colors, Wednesdays, and Romeo & Juliet between the end of 2020 and into early 2022. There was supposedly going to be a trilogy of albums released in 2019 including the former two albums and a scrapped double album dedicated to his late brother, Chris. I will say that 'Wednesdays' was probably his last real album. The material is heavy but it's what I expected Prisoner should've sounded more like when it was first hyped in 2015 as his 'divorce album' and 'as Heartbreaker as it gets'---the original 17-track version would've been a better album to look back on then the forgettable '80's rock' of Big Colors or what became the Chris album (a bunch of S/T and Prisoner leftovers). This song is raw and just voice and piano. It was shared on RA's IG a year or so back 'as a new song' ---but it's from the 2018 sessions for Wednesdays. The abridged version of the album is good but missing songs like "Take Me Home" , "Like a Heatwave" and "Red and Orange Special" that would've been on the original and made it a late period classic, possibly* (by the margin the old fans used to measure his best work at). However, the song doesn't stand up to repeated listens---so I replaced it with something more innaresting.

I added "In the Shadows" in its place---because it seems more sincere, haha. You know what I'm talkin' about. The song was recorded with Glyn Johns producing what would've been the 2013 follow-up to Ashes and Fire. Features some mean slide work from ex-Cardinals bandmate Cindy Cashdollar. I think she could have been around briefly (end of 2004 / beginning of 2005?) for some of the JCN demos---as I believe this song is a new recording of the same "Shadows" on that list of song titles from right after Cold Roses was finished. I heard she left the group after the 2004 tour--since she had other projects and didn't want to commit to another record, etc. Perhaps the 'Sear Sound' disc contains songs recorded before and after Graboff came in to replace Cashdollar? 

Pedal steel would become an integral part of the record. Bob Hoffnar (spelling ?) played with the band on their version of "Always on My Mind" (Norah Jones also sang and played on it). I read Graboff was already in the band--but had a prior commitment on that day. Graboff is (paraphrased) heard saying "Ryan had a bunch of song titles written down before he had songs..." in the awesome September documentary that we all wish was longer. Ryan's (in recent years) teasing about another Cardinals album with 'the original line-up' begs the question---is it that list of songs RE: JCN ("Shadows", "We're Doomed", "Liar's Eve", "Dust and Alcohol", "Like the Lies She Tells to Me", "Give Up?", "On My Way to Jacksonville", "Rosewood Cemetery", "The Howling", etc.)---at least some of them--from before the proper album sessions started? The electric 'Demonstration Versions' is another curious thread. Ryan wrote 'think like the JCN demos' in his songwriting notes for more songs we never heard in 2017 (Wednesdays demos, probably).    

BUT anyways---let's talk about "Walls" from the 2001 sessions that has been bootlegged for years as the 48 Hours disc. Probably one of the best damn songs that never got put out. Why the fuck is that? That's the real 'Ryan Adams sound' or at least what we were sold back in the day, heh. Another reason why Ethan Johns was the best producer he had. The best studio backing group (besides The Cardinals) he had was from this time (in my opinion), as well. I do dig the Replacements tribute band he had called the Pinkhearts, though. "Mega Superior Gold" is a banger. I didn't include it because I think you should go check out the whole Pinkhearts or 'Let It B-Minus' disc that's also out there (2000-01 era). 

"Perfect and True" is one of the best ballads and prettiest damn songs you could sing for somebody. It's just voice and guitars (the late great, Bucky Baxter accompanies RA with harmony and slide). This is part of a collection of stripped back tunes called The Suicide Handbook. The album was apparently intended to be the follow-up to Heartbreaker, but was deemed "too sad", etc. Well, they're not wrong about that, haha. Ballads and heartbreak and some fine songwriting and vocals. This was all scrapped for Gold. The 9-11 album. You know if he hadn't filmed that video where he did---we probably wouldn't have had to see that Gap ad he did (Bwahahhahhaha). That's nothing to do with him, though. Leviathans stick together, don't they? 

"The Last Dance"  is a perfect closer for this little introductory sampler to RA's unreleased works. No, this doesn't even probably cover it for completists! But for the rest of us, it shows the guy still has at least one solid album of stuff that hasn't been commercially released. I've tried to make it a nicely rounded musical affair for the discerning ear. This one is originally from the Exile on Franklin Street bootleg that supposedly contains a compilation of home recorded works RA did before signing to Lost Highway. I believe it was the name he gave folks as his first solo album 'he was working on' back before and after Whiskeytown, hehe. I believe it's probably recorded sometime after Whiskeytown ended (since it includes a  re-make of a song they didn't use for their final album, Pneumonia) and the sessions for Heartbreaker. This version of the song has been pitched down to a more natural tone---as several songs on the disc were 'pitched up' for whatever reasons---hiding how old the recordings are, etc. It was one of the first tunes I got into when I did a deep dive into his vast 'unreleased recordings' discography over twenty something years ago, now. Anyways, I hope you enjoy. This is the first thing I listen to and haven't got bored by him in years!  Maybe you'll find something there, too.

Cheers.

  

'42' or 'How Many Roads Must We Walk Down?' [2025 REMASTER]

 Released April 1, 2022 

© ℗ 2022 BARELY THERE STUDIO

CLICK HERE FOR SPOTIFY, APPLE, TIDAL, etc.

All songs written by Adam Gaither (except where otherwise stated); ©2022 Barely There Studio.
Recorded at Barely There Studio(s) between February and July 2021; "May Remorse Be With You" and "The World Without You" rec. 2019  
Produced, engineered and mixed by A.G./ Additional engineering and production by LUCY DAWN

All instruments performed by SMASH ADDAMS;
LUCY DAWN sings background and harmony vocals on tracks 1, 2, 12 and 13 / 
plays keyboards on tracks 1, 7-12 / rhythm guitar on track 4;
ROLAND TURNER plays drums on tracks 4 and 9 

Originally a 44-track project released as a digital 3XLP + E.P. boxset on Nov. 26, 2021 [BTSLP42].

 "I saw something else under the sun
The world without it was fading like an electrical tube 

Dying a flicker at a time in the grocery store aisles 

we used to go walking through 

now we go round back to the chalkboard 

we go back 

but there is nothing to do that wont be done. 

Nothing should be unsung."

WHAT FOREVER MIGHT MEAN?
--------------------
What forever might mean?
You will never feel alone again
Sounds like a dream
You had and you can't remember

Someone might see
That you have a heart to love me tender
Love me tenderly, love me true 
Please dear, forever

Remember the time you walked away with no shoes in the snow?
Or the time I hooked up the tailpipe of my car
I couldn't get it right (Let's get it right)
Baby, let's not fight anymore

What forever might mean
What forever might mean? (What forever might mean)
What forever might mean?
You will never feel alone again
Sounds like a dream you had and you can't remember
It's like a dream
The kind you can't remember
But you know it's true


COUSINS
------------
What makes us family?
What makes us even friends?
I didn't know in the beginning
How you would wind up looking in the end

(Chorus:)
Never wanna grow up, do you?
But the lies you're telling aren't true
I don't believe a word you say
Didn't wanna make it so bad
Sit around feeling so sad
Difference between a father and a dad?

When I think about the pain
Never wanna feel that way again
The creek's run dry, the sky does the same
You're washed away


BETWEEN HOPE & CAUTION
------------------------
When you think you're gonna die yesterday
Today seems so sweet
You could lose your shit tomorrow
Today's no day to fall apart

Between hope and caution and everything between
Twistin and turnin with the fire on these wheels
When you're exhausted with this life
I hope you know; don't keep your eyes closed

Realize what you want to say
When the nights are bittersweet
And look out for tomorrow
Today's no way to end; start again

When you're exhausted with these things in your mind
I hope you know that whether you stay or go
Whether it's yes or no; if you're there
Just know that I love you so

Between hope and caution 
And everything in between
Lost in that headspace 
How far away it all feels

And if you're exhausted with these things in your mind
I hope that everytime; if you stay or go?
If it's a 'yes' or a 'no' if you're there
Just know that I love you so

When you think you're gonna die yesterday
Today is so sweet...

Between hope and caution and everything between
Twistin and turnin with the fire on these wheels
And if you're exhausted with these things in your mind
I hope you know; don't keep your eyes closed



MAY REMORSE BE WITH YOU  (co-written with Lucy Dawn)
------------------------
Who's been keepin' the score?
Like I knew
All I can say is let remorse be with you 
(All I can say is let remorse be with you)

My hands aren't tied enough to break these chains
You'll be chokin' on the dust of my remains
(In case you didn't know, I'm fuckin' insane)

Now do you want some more?
I do; but not the kind that's underneath those shoes
Caught you lookin' away; I know the things that you do
May remorse be with you

My head's on fire but I will not burn
Live long enough and maybe you will learn

My hands aren't tied enough to break these chains
You'll be chokin' on the dust of my remains


TOMBSTONE
-------------
My tombstone ain't in Kentucky
Not cos I'm dead, man--because I got lucky
There were so many times I nearly threw it all away
Sometimes I still can't count all the days

I am from Mississippi
Wasn't by choice so I hope you'll forgive me
I have seen what's in the past
Don't need to go there so I'll write a second act

Some find it funny
Not cos I'm well read
Because it hasn't been sunny 
In my mind for a long time

I was born in Memphis, Tennessee
Raised in a small town that don't speak to me
And I finally made it out of that place
But can I outrun this doom?
Can I outrun this doom?

Tombstone ain't in Kentucky
Not cos I haven't tried
Boys, believe me

Sometimes I feel like a motherless child
Takin' my pills for the deep sleep
But I'm wide awake
I'm wide awake

I am from Mississippi
It wasn't by choice so I hope you'll forgive me
I have seen what's in the past
Don't need to go there so I'll write a second act



WHAT YOU ARE IN THE DARK
------------------------
Sometimes you're the one that's behind the wheel
Sometimes you're the one that's runnin'
From whatever that it is that I see that's comin'
It's comin' after me

What you are in the dark sometimes can really blind you
You get lost in the lights that try to guide you
To get out from underneath where they find you

Like ninja mind control with your voodoo
Break away, do what you wanna do

Sometimes you're the one that's behind the wheel
Sometimes you're the one that's runnin'
From whatever that it is that you said
You see that's comin'
It's comin' after me
Yeah, it's comin'
It's comin' after you
Yeah, it's comin'


SLOPPY MOSES
--------------
(instrumental)


GENTLEMAN
-----------
(Love, love, love, love) Love to love you, baby
(Love, love, love, love) Love to love you, baby

Now you know I know who's been running the show
This whole time; I didn't see it comin' my way
You keep runnin' around
And all I hear's the sound of another thing fallin' down

If you want a gentleman
You gotta tell me right now 
Right now?
Yes, you can
Yes, you can

Mama didn't raise no fool
And I been a long time out of school
Always drunk when you miss me
Just hang it up

Stay off my phone; the line is dead
Just another hole right in your head
Crying to another dial tone

(Love, love, love, love) Love to love you, baby
(Love, love, love, love) I said I love to love you, baby!
(Love, love, love, love)

Now that I know; I been runnin' the show this whole time
You didn't see it comin' your way
When you keep on comin' round now?
All I hear's the sound of another thing fallin' down

You're not worth a gentleman; not worth my time


THE WORLD WITHOUT YOU  (co-written with Lucy Dawn)
----------------------
The world without you ain't what it used to be
More electric cars and high priced gasoline
It all feels the same to me
Except you're somewhere unseen

The world without you is a shame
So many years left to place the blame
Put on public shame
Didn't wanna see me, didn't wanna know my name

Father's doin' fine on seventy-nine
Your sister's a grandma, too
Now that the foot has the other shoe
I'm finding out my truth
(Mother)

(Oh, my brother...) Brother, the regulators are gone
It ain't easy havin' pals and so on
Glad I'm not alone; you were gone too soon
Heard your voice on the telephone
I had hoped to see you soon

The world without me will probably always be
But down the road they call eternity
I'll stop and think about you and me

[Spoken:] The world without you is a shame
So many years left to place the blame
Put on public shame
They didn't wanna see me
They didn't wanna know my name

Don't wanna face this world without you
Without you (without you)
Without you (without you)
Without you

///////////////////////////////////////////

LIFE BEGINS AT FORTY (Too)
------------------
Life begins at forty?
I guess we'll see
Thirty-nine years ain't enough for me
And some people would agree

Life ends everywhere you see
Anywhere, anyplace that's not where you wanna be
In your own time, you'll see

So don't take so long (Don't take so long)
(Don't take so long) To say what you should have said
Don't live in fear (Don't live in fear)
Nobody knows where do we go from here

Will life begin at forty?
Will life begin at forty, yeah?
Yeah?


FATHER'S ONLY SON
-------------
I am my father's only son
I can only hope that he's proud of me
All my life I tried to have my fun
But when everybody turned the light out on me

There was nobody else to call
And by the way, I'm sorry
There was nobody left to care
When they locked me down

And after that, I never was the same
Only a number; not a name
Life is fucking strange

I am my father's only son
I was my mother's too
All my life I've watched the world come undone
But only love is true
Yes, I know
That only love is true


WHAT IF IT'S ME??
---------------
If you were me you still wouldn't understand
These days and nights sometimes they never end
Sorry you said goodbye, my friend
I'll be movin' on; now that all the love is gone

(Chorus:)
I was throwin' my life away
Painting the walls of my mind with all the things you say
You were toxic; a waste of time
Now I'm burning from the sun
It shines on everyone in the dark
What if it's me?

What if it's me that never quits
What if it's you that just don't get it
Sorry I even tried again
Another funeral; maybe I'll see you then


ON A SPECTRUM NO ONE SEES
-------------------------
On a spectrum nobody sees
I got a hole in my head to catch the breeze
On a spectrum no one else sees

(Chorus:)
Thunderclouds talking to me
Freezin' rain and lightning
Looking out my window I feel the pain
Can't tell if I'm cryin'
Don't know when I'm lyin' to myself
Something's gonna happen to me
Fear that something is probably gonna come to be
It's all gonna come to be

On a spectrum no one can tell
What's right or what's wrong; oh well
Heaven and hell?


THURSDAYS
----------
Thursday's on a weekend
And all the money's been spent
All the friends will be at it again
But they don't even know my name

They don't even know my name
They don't look at me the same
Guess my reputation was to blame

How do you sleep at night
With all the things that you do
After a while, you're just a means to an end
You won't believe in the truth


ASTERISK
--------
I am the asterisk
I am above it all
Am I the asterisk?
Am I the exception to the rule?

Seems like I'm doing fine
Seems like I haven't lost my mind
Nothing is perfect
I think you've known it all along

I am the asterisk
I am the asterisk

Are you the asterisk?
Are you really underneath it all?
Underneath it all, you're so scared

You don't fool me
You can't fool me cos I know
You can't look in the mirror
Your reflection might show

But you're the asterisk
It's in the fine print
The kind you can't see?
You gotta make your eyes squint


WHAT MAMA TRIED TO TELL ME
-------------------------
What mama tried to tell me
Don't grow up too fast
But I've been takin' lots of candy from strangers
That put it in my bag

What mama tried to tell me
Don't throw it all away
It doesn't matter what we say 
It only matters what we do

What mama tried to tell me
Hold onto the ones you love
Hold onto the things we have

What mama tried to tell me 
Don't throw it all away
You'll understand it someday
And someday eventually comes


DON'T TAKE IT SO BAD
-------------------
When it's my time to die
I won't cry
I won't shed a single tear

Spent my whole life living in fear
Took a lot of drugs to get me here

Don't take it so bad
You never know when you're gonna be sad
Gonna miss you when it's over
Don't take it so bad

Better than doin' time
Tried to make it mind
I won't shed no tears
Took a lot of drugs just to get me here

Don't take it so bad
Never know when you're gonna be so bad
Gonna miss you when it's over
Don't take it so bad

You're looking tired
Too tired to say much
When you're looking in the mirror
What do you see?
What do you see?

Hey, don't take it so bad
You'll never know when you're gonna be so bad
Don't wanna make you cry
Don't wanna make you sad
Don't take it so bad
I'm gonna miss you when I'm gone


HOBBES
------
Where are you now?
It's freezing outside
Are you still alive?
So long ago

I remember when you went away
You went away
Tried to make some sense of this
Tried not to think about what I miss

Where did you go?
No one would know
Are you up in the trees?
Hiding from me?

You went away
You went away
Try to make some sense of this
Try not to think about what I miss

Where are you now?
Where are you now?
Try to make some sense of this
Try to not think about what I miss
Try to make some sense of this
But it don't make no sense at all

Where are you now?

You went away
You went away
You went away

Where are you now? (where are you now)
(Where are you now) Where are you now?
(Where are you now) Where are you now

["Holy shit." - Lucy]

----------

SINGLE LP ALSO AVAILABLE ON BANDCAMP!

A little background info:

"My COVID-era album...recorded (Feb - July, 2021) while I was in-and-out of the hospital for damn near dying from GI bleeds. Put in a coma...survived. Lost my voice for a while after having to be intubated (but I kept recording this anyway---IF you are wondering why my VOICE sounds weak on most of it)...lost myself and lost my way for what we call my own "Lost Weekend."

I published over 100 songs that year, alone. This album originally was to have 44-tracks and fit on 3LPs (hour long a piece) and a little bonus E.P. to be included, as well. I did a few other albums like 'LATE & ALONE', 'AFTER GEOMETRY', 'REVERSE SUICIDE HANDOOK', 'LET ME GIVE THE WORLD TO YOU'---but this was my most autobiographical---and I figured I wouldn't live long enough to finish it properly---let alone, be talking about today as another person altogether. I had a shit attitude like a lot of 'artist-types', right? Faithless, hopeless, drunk and self-absorbed. Once I was told I was looking at liver failure in the near future---'better get out the pen and pad...hit record'. So this is my album I was writing like it was going to be my last. I was full on into my own self-mythologization (*ugh**)...even contemplated writing a book about the songs. Yikes. You take away the alcohol...suddenly you realize you're naked, heh. Haven't we had enough trauma dumping? I promise, I'm over it...that man is gone now. I know not everything sounded as great now as it did in my head wasted under the headphone set. There's been some shuffling of tracks, some forgotten, some salvaged, etc.

I also decided that the sound quality on my albums has not been as good as it can be. Starting in late 2023, we (Barely There Studio label) moved our music onto the 'streams'---we're going to make it sound better. 'FAVOURITE HELL' and 'INSTANT NOSTALGIA / 20:20' join this new expanded version of '42' (I added five songs from the original project) in this trilogy of 'cymatics friendly' remastered albums I'm very proud to have put out there (and put myself into). 

Thank YOU, to anyone that gives us a listen. Feel free to check out more music from Barely There Studio (including myself, LUCY DAWN, THE INSTANT LOVELIES, THE ELOQUENT 7EVEN, DBA) on Bandcamp and Soundcloud. 

I wish you all a good day and good times ahead!

-AG