I don’t mean you’re not going to like it—I hope you do—but this album was made for someone else. Specifically, it was made for my girlfriend Emily, and on December 14th, 2018, I’m going to play her this album and ask her to marry me.
Some context: I met Emily in December of 2012, and we bonded quickly over our shared love of music. We would sit down and listen to music together—she would show me pieces I hadn’t heard before, and vice versa. Our feelings for each other grew quickly, and on December 14th of that year, I played her a love song that expressed how I felt about her, and I asked her to be my girlfriend.
Thankfully, she said yes, and music has played a role in our relationship ever since. We’ve played in musical groups together, gone to concerts together, and each year for our anniversary I’ve written her a new piece of music.
So, when our fifth anniversary rolled around and we started seriously discussing getting married, I began to wonder how I would propose to her. I wanted it to be a public celebration, yet intimate and unique to us. Then I remembered the songs I had written her. I realized they could form the basis of an album—an album that I could play for her just like the love song I played almost six years ago.
So with that purpose in mind, I thought of ways I could make this album as special as possible. First, I recruited some of my favorite MCs and asked them to contribute their perspectives on love to the music (the three who are married can be heard sharing marriage advice at the end of the album). Then, I secretly visited Emily’s friends and family and recorded them sharing their favorite things about her—these interviews shaped the interludes between each track, and serve to create a sketch for the listener of who Emily is.
Finally, in keeping with the title of the album—All of Me to You—I found ways to put all of who I am into the music. The piano in the interludes, for example, is the instrument from my childhood home where I learned to read and write music. The nature sounds throughout the album were taken from my favorite place in the world—a beautiful lake in the Ozarks—recorded over the course of a summer day. The solo on the title track, as another example, is played by all the instruments I play—improvised first on saxophone, then transcribed and overdubbed on clarinet and wind synthesizer. I could name more elements of the album which deal with this idea of “all,” but for the sake of brevity I’ll leave them for the listener to uncover.
Part of my motivation for proposing with an album was to create a unique “place” in which to set the proposal. Unlike places in the real world, which change over time and ultimately are shared with many other people, this album will be ours—a place created exclusively for Emily and I to experience this milestone. My hope is that, as the years go by, she and I can go back to this record and revisit the “place” where I proposed to her, each time finding it exactly the way we left it.
That said, I hope you enjoy your listen through this space of ours. Wish us luck as I propose, and we “flip the chapter.”
Marvelously vaporous production defines this beat tape from Illinois producer Frank Leone, featuring a guest verse from loji. Bandcamp New & Notable Dec 17, 2022
