Description

1LP Vinyl – CB002

‘With Love’ is a collection of songs about love and sending love. This was not an intentional concept but rather a result of finding myself expressing love through playing piano. The album is all about sending love to important people in my life.

It started as a wedding gift for two of my dearest friends Pierce and Marie. I wanted to gift them songs that represented various stages of their love. Three of the songs are reflections from seeing them together in Marie’s world, as well as living with them in Footscray, and living with Pierce during long periods in which they were apart. From here the other songs came into fruition as I started reflecting on other important people and moments in my life.

Up until 2020, my life as a musician had focused on working in rock and contemporary groups such as, Crepes, Robot Fox, Tropical Snakes, Dreamin’ Wild, and Chimpanzee. Being in lockdown brought everything to a standstill. It created time and space. As a musician I’d never really found time to focus on my own music, now I could reassess what I needed and what I wanted to prioritise.

I’ve always held a special relationship to the piano. For me it is a tool that provides rich healing and deeper understanding for and of myself. It is a vital outlet for me to process life and what I am feeling. I have struggled to allow myself to have a voice in words and in turn spoke through my piano. Through piano I could clear my mind and just express myself fully. I think spoken language and words are so limiting, and through playing I could say what I needed and wanted to say. Where some people might turn to paper to write, I turn to the piano. This has been and will always be my therapy.

I recorded the album over a day, often in one or two takes, with my friend Jesse Williams in his home in Anglesea. All the songs were largely improvised with only certain themes, motifs, melodies, chord structures and story arcs prearranged.

Recording this album took a lot out of me as it was recorded amidst deep changes in my life. Listening back to the album was overwhelming and would viscerally transport me back to feelings and moments in time which were often painful to relive. It took me over a year before I could revisit the album as these songs are so personal and vulnerable as they look deep into my soul with nowhere to hide.

I struggled with imposter syndrome of making a solo piano album with the idea that it was not good enough and full of mistakes.

With time I realised the beauty and vulnerability of this. I am an imperfect person and the songs needed to reflect and be true to that.
Now looking back at the process and hearing the album in a time where I have changed and grown, I see what I was composing about.
It was a process and plea to send love to myself.
Thank you for listening.

With love,
jackson dahlenburg