“craeyola” - liner notes
“craeyola” is a contemporary exploration into the poignant stages of social development, expressed through solo piano.
While I take liberties with this album and condense it into eighteen years from newborn to early adulthood, these stages can occur at any time in our lives when we are striking out into something new, meeting life’s challenges and teachings along the way.
It begins when we are newborns in ‘the sunshine days,’ in which we are the apple of our parent’s eyes and can do no wrong, then continues to year two when we are working it out through lots of scribbles with ‘craeyola.’ We then go out on a limb with a touch of attitude with ‘hopscotch,’ growing into our more formative years where challenges start to creep in as we begin to think for ourselves.
‘thirteen’ is a transitional piece, depicting that often confusing and unsteady time, taking us to romance’s first blush with our ‘first dance,’ followed by swift heartbreak when we read more into it than there was with ‘i thought you loved me,’ which introduces us to our first ever moment of real darkness in this otherwise vividly charmed life.
Introspection begins with the shock and emptiness of ‘in the bleak,’ then taking one day at a time (could be coined “12 steps for teenagers”) in ‘equilibrium,’ and then ultimately ‘into the woods,’ where we courageously settle in with our thoughts, surrounded by the gentle compassion of nature.
‘bittersweet’ is that salt/sugar experience of true discernment for the very first time, in which we are beginning to appreciate everything about our past, even the bitter pain, and see it through the lens of gratitude.
Finally, around the age of 18 or 19, we have developed the maturity to start stepping into our life, equipped with those foundational life lessons that now give us that early confidence, the beginnings of our “chutzpah” with ‘smiling on the inside.’
This album was recorded in my home studio on a Yamaha U1 from the fall months of 2023 through December of 2024, inspired by the beauty, pain, and brilliance of life’s experiences; mastered by mix/mastering engineer Markus Nordlund of Örebro, Sweden.