I didn’t think I’d be releasing this song this year, but I woke up one morning recently with a strong feeling that I should get up and work on getting it out—and that I should try to release it today.
In the northern hemisphere, today is the winter solstice—the darkest day of the year—and this year the solstice is feeling especially significant, in a way I haven’t felt before. I’ve been thinking about it—wondering about what I’m feeling and why it feels important. It feels connected to the intense place the world is in, to challenges in my own personal life, and to how much I know others are going through as well. It feels connected to the extreme difficulty people are experiencing globally, and to how intensely many of us are feeling what’s going on collectively. All this intensity feels mirrored by the prolonged darkness of this day, but somehow the solstice also feels like an opportunity—a chance to explore the idea, and practice, of creating light when it’s dark out.
To listen to “Come Home” on Spotify click here. Apple Music click here.
A while back, in a conversation with some friends an image came up that’s coming to mind again now. I had this feeling that releasing a song was like lighting a candle and putting it on my front porch. I remember thinking that I didn’t know who would see it, or what it might mean to them, but I knew it was important to put it outside—to put it somewhere where it was visible, and give it a chance to do its work.
This is how this song release is feeling. I’m sitting here alone in my apartment, but I can feel a connection with you all—and with people all over. I’ve been experiencing challenges in my own life, and I know many others have been too. In the midst of all of this, I’m releasing a song and it’s feeling a lot like the image I described—following the inspiration to share something, like putting the candle outside.
This new song, “Come Home,” is my front porch offering for today, but I don’t see it as a lone candle. The feeling I’m having is that maybe a lot of us are lighting candles from different places—sharing pieces of what we love, and what inspires us, as offerings in this time. I keep seeing an image of many lit flames—like you would see at a vigil, or in a church or temple. Maybe there’s something in me yearning for this reflective moment—to sit in this dimly lit space and feel where things are in me—to pause, reflect and feel into my own heart—to share this together with others, to see what we find here, and to feel the inspiration of wanting to offer something to someone else—to feel the power of this kind of inspiration—the power that I think is how we might begin to find and bring some light.
I’m deeply grateful to the awesome musicians and visual artists—all good friends—who collaborated with me to create this song and cover art: Soulful singer-songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist, Kai Naor, who breathed life into “Come Home” in its early stages—helping me arrange and create the demos we used as templates for this final recording; my childhood friend, and inspiring singer-songwriter, Lesley Kernochan, who elevated this song with beautiful, heartfelt backing vocals, and who poured the kind of love into it that you can feel; Laura Summer who painted a series of paintings inspired by “Come Home,” which are featured in this post, and on the song cover; Joshua Temkin (aka Jericho J)—my longtime musical partner—who designed the cover; and my co-creator on this recording, Dan Mackenzie, who blew me away throughout the process. Dan played every instrument you hear on this song, helped write parts of the music, recorded, mixed and co-produced it. Badass.
Equally as inspiring as the musical talents Dan brought to the table, was his ability to listen in to the heart of this song, and to help create an atmosphere that supported it. I’m remembering how he shared an image to help inspire me while we recorded. As I got ready to record vocals, he invited me to close my eyes and imagine this picture:
“It’s sometime in the future, but still in our lifetimes. We’re in a critical place globally, but a lot of people feel ready for something different and are starting to get together. We’re at a large outdoor gathering. It’s completely dark out, except for a desert landscape of lit torches. This is the space you’re singing into…”
Wow, right? That’s how you get someone to step up their singing game.
And somehow it worked—meaning it did help me connect with the heart of what I was doing—with the spirit of the song. And working from this place the recording process goes deeper—gets closer to what it’s really trying to serve.
I hadn’t actually remembered this image of the desert and the torches until just a few minutes ago as I was writing. It adds another layer to the idea of the candle on the front porch, and the inspiration to release this song on the darkest day of the year. And for me, imaging folks gathering in the night to try and find our way in critical times, offers a powerful feeling, and questions, to accompany the song’s title and tag line: come home.
I’m excited to share it with you all. Thank you for listening.
“Come Home” is being presented as a “gift release.” This model invites listeners to directly support artists with a one time donation or monthly contributions via Patreon. Thank you!
Love Bravely is a cross-genre music project and creative community founded by rapper / singer-songwriter, Matre, in collaboration with a wide network of musicians, artists and creatives. For more information visit us on Substack.
Dan Mackenzie is a singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and music producer. To check out more of his work, listen on Soundcloud.
Lesley Kernochan is a singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist with many inspiring releases you can listen to here.
Laura Summer is a painter and co-founder of the arts and arts education nonprofit, Free Columbia. She’s also the creator of “Art Dispersal”—an innovative way of supporting visual artists and making original artwork accessible for all without paywalls.
Love Bravely as a long arc of freeing, each release a new color in that bow, lifting my eyes.
Matt, I love it! It is strong and inspiring and the rhythm is wonderful; thank you for offering it and helping to bring in more light. :)