"A very special Summer, very heavy feelings, & very dear Loved ones."

     Released on August 8th, 2025, "That Sad Summer Album" was first conceived during the final days of spring while I spent a week away from home with my dearest friend. I worked on the songs as the days grew warmer, busking at the Oregon Country Fair and attending open mics.

     Unlike my previous work with Hiraeth's music, the album was spontaneous; it was created in tandem with time. I completed it before summer passed, and it was only after it was published and I listened to the final product that I realized the meaning of its contents: I was sad because summer was over - for the very first time in my life - and I was overwhelmingly afraid that I would never have another one like it. It remains to be true that the people I grew close to in the third season of 2025 bonded with me despite my dissociation, my splitting, and my melancholy ways. I was surprised to find that I could, in fact, be myself while being a friend or a lover.

     "That Sad Summer Album" is sad for a slightly less hopeful reason, too: every summer before then had been relatively miserable. I used to experience terrible "summer depression" because of the social and physical location that I grew up in; so the album, especially "Stranger," reflects on that with a heavy heart.

     Thank you for spending your time here reading and listening. I hope "That Sad Summer Album" can help you recollect your fondest summer memories, mourn for what was lost in past summers, or look forward to a future summer that is bright and warm and true.