I am so excited to release my second album, Reflections, on February 22nd! The track list is as follows:
- Searching for Answers
- Into the Storm
- In My Weakness (Lift My Head)
- Empty
- Gravestone
I know, I know. It's not a full length album, but a shorter format fits these songs better. For one, short albums don't take as long and are not as daunting of a project to produce. Secondly, I like to group songs on an album around a theme and I didn't really have any other songs that I wanted to put with these songs. And maybe if I bombard you with fewer songs at once, you'll focus more on these particular tracks.
This album is a collection of a few songs that are meant to make you think a little bit. I know they made me think when I wrote them. These songs are generally mellow and reflective (hence the album title). Many of you may have already listened to "Searching for Answers". It was released as a single in June of 2020. You can read the blog post I wrote about it here. It's a song encouraging us all to never give up searching for answers as we travel through life. "Into the Storm" is a very new song, written within the last couple months. Its inspiration came from words by my grandfather in the devotional book he wrote called "Plow New Ground". "In My Weakness" is a personal reflection and was written at a low point of mine. "Empty" is the oldest song on this list. I don't remember when exactly I wrote it, but it has been waiting to be recorded for a while. I wanted to write a somewhat darker song using minor chords that is rather blunt about hell and the follies of living a worldly life. Last but not least, "Gravestone" takes its place at the end of the album to leave the listener with a question: What will my gravestone say? Inspired from my own experiences while caring for the gravestone of an United States Air Force pilot, the song addresses the basic human concern of what our legacy will be once we pass from this world to the next.
A bit of a disclaimer about this album: All of the songs (except "Searching for Answers") were recorded in a less than ideal situation. I'm currently away from home on a deployment with the US Army and so I do not have access to my studio and a lot of my equipment. As a result, the audio quality isn't as good as I wish it was. This is another good reason to publish a short album for now. Being away from home is also going to make providing physical copies of the album difficult to produce. The album will be available via the website and your favorite streaming services on February 22, but physical copies may take a little longer. Bear with me. I hope that doesn't detract from your enjoyment, but I wanted to use my downtime while away from home to be able to get some of these songs done and published. Once I return home, production will begin on a full length album that will be done in better conditions.
I hope you enjoy these songs as much as I do. As it is a short album, any money earned from these releases will be held onto to be used for the production of my next full length album. I will be posting a couple In Tune With the Tunes posts for some of these tracks so stay tuned for those if you want to know more about them! Remember, the best way to stay up to date on blog posts and any studio news is to sign up for our newsletter at the bottom of our website homepage!
Reflections will be released digitally February 22, 2021. Physical copies can be special ordered by emailing me at bayleafstudiosmusic@gmail.com but don't know when those will be available yet.
Thanks for listening and enjoy! God bless!
-Jenson Bailey