Late summer - so distinct! Rushing to the subway one morning last week I stopped, looked at the sky and exhaled big. Even though the city feels like a sauna the blue light's trickling in and I'm sooo ready to take a dip.
The past few weeks I've been in the studio working on the new album. It's my seventh project with Steve so the sessions have been easy and relaxed... despite the demolition of the second floor (we're recording on the first floor!). Recording in a work zone is a potential nightmare but Steve is such a pro and I'm so used to upheaval I daresay the album is better for it. We got really creative on this one. :)
This week Steve and I took a break to fly to opposite corners of the country to say goodbye to ill loved ones. It's a strange and sad coincidence, yet one that reinforced the desire to make a bright, fun album. After the past year of traveling across the US & Europe during big global and personal shifts I guess you could say I have a different perspective on life. And different songs to sing.
So - if you're in NYC this Friday you're invited to hear new songs at the American Folk Art Museum! I'll perform a free concert in the atrium promptly at 5:30PM and I'd love to see you. For those of you I haven't seen - and won't see for a while - I still love you and I promise new music next month. Here are photos from the process:
Turns out drums are louder than drills :)
So are guitars - and the subway! This is the sub-subway bridge where I warm up my voice in the morning. Thankfully New Yorkers are so preoccupied no one notices my shrieking.
It's been crazy hot.
But people are making do.
And there've been loads of rain... which I wish I could send to Big Sur :(
The view from atop the new Whitney.
And old inspiration.
On a day off I wandered around my old neighborhood, amazed by the transformation. I left my Ludlow Street studio seven years ago and if that's how long it takes for our cells to be replaced apparently the same goes for apartment buildings.
I realize it's hypocritical to resist change... but I'm going to miss the crooked door frames and Krylon-covered bricks that inspired so many late night walks and early morning songs.
After flying south I sought comfort in my main muse, the ocean. Dark clouds carried flashes of light: warm waves, shore birds, damp heat crackling over the Atlantic. It was a sad occasion and nature modeled the harmony of dark and light, ebb and flow, death and life.
Plus my family and I have been binging pretty hard on the Olympics. Seeing how much dedication and hard work the athletes put into their sports has inspired me to be a better writer and musician.
It's also made me want to swim :)
And so I wish you a very happy end of summer! Thank you for reading and please tune in next month for a big announcement. Enjoy these beautiful days while they're here!!
With Love,
Cygne