So about the cover of the album.

I fell in love with this image and Eugenia Loli graciously consented to its usage as an album cover, so my art director i102fly customized it and made it just so.

I felt like this image really worked with the album because it has a magic realism sort of quality, flowers (yes, you know I have this thing for flowers), but also sort of a retro feel – and a theme of spaces beyond, but also space flight. Hence: ‘Messenger’ – which also happens to be a key song on the album.

The album itself spans a wide variety of themes and moods, from ‘Trap’, which is as dark as it gets  and is basically all about obsession at its very extreme, to ‘Messenger’, which is all about hope and light.

Then there’s ‘Familiar’, which speaks of ghosts, love lost and deja vu.

‘Icarus’ is about flying as a symbol of searching for one’s freedom, inside and outwards. Freedom as life’s basic necessity, which sometimes may also become a way to escape dreariness and confinement of one’s mind or circumstances. But freedom is tricky – an obsession with freedom and unconstrained flight may also destroy you, like Icarus found out. And yet, what is that myth? It has evolved to be less of a warning than inspiration. To burn out brightly; to burn up – those metaphors never seem like negatives when they are used in speech.

“Satellite” is a little cute love song, but there’s a catch to it – a satellite follows a trajectory and it transmits a signal. This is a song, where I ask the question: will you be calling me? But I end up saying: No, I will be calling you. So, what starts out a bit coy, ends up being pretty, well, assertive:)

“Time Of Your Life” is another one of those songs I wrote when I was very down. “Dreamer” was another such song, actually. I often write cheery songs when I am depressed, maybe to cheer myself up. Anyway, the lyrics are pretty self explanatory. I have suffered from depression on and off in my life, as have many others. It is so hard to change perspective when you are depressed. It seems like this is all it would take: to just realize that things are almost never as bad as they feel or appear to be at that moment.

And yes, this is the Time Of Your Life. It’s passing so quickly. Tomorrow you’ll look back and realize that it wasn’t that bad, that time – there was a lot more to enjoy and be grateful for, but you kept missing those things because you were so upset about that boy – or the goals you didn’t reach – or the extra weight – or what people said – or the money you wished you had. Certainly, life – and love – are hard. Sometimes they are horrible. But as long as there’s life, there’s possibility. Being alive to begin with – what a winning lottery ticket!

“These Stupid Games” are about the push and pull of a relationship and the so-called ‘battlefield’, which love can be, trust – which can be used as a weapon, both ways – and fear of opening yourself up.

“Bella Anima” is about a fantasy love. Over time, I have had these dreams – even while being in a real relationship – where I was with someone amazing and shared some incredible moments. The dreams always feel very real. I wake up devastated, even though there’s no reason to be. But it’s like I have dreamed of this archetype of perfect companion; my other half, and he is not here, he only lives in those rare dreams. I would wake up with an aching sense of loss, even though I know the person is not real. So it’s like my dream version of a romance anime, if you will, where the hero says: ‘I will always protect you’, but also embodies every single aspect of what I would want (in theory) of a soulmate.

Hence: ‘Bella Anima’, which in Italian means Beautiful Soul.

“Space Pirate’s Love Song” is special. I had wanted to use a NASA sample in one of my songs for a while, and here was my chance.