this is an album I return to in the fall/winter, and while it might not sound like a comfort album from the description i’m about to give it still plays a sort of comfort album role for me during this time of year where it’s easy to isolate and feel listless.
this album was made in the midst of a period of debilitating illness for the artist that left him mostly bedridden for months at a time, during which he had little else to do but languish in his deteriorating mental and physical state. each song focuses on a different thought spiral that took over his mind in this time: his past relationship failures, his unhealthy coping mechanisms, his “inner demons,” and his increasingly frail body.
though the subject matter is pretty bleak, the production and composition across the album is gorgeous, and the care that went into making the album reveals how music became an escape for Baths–a medium into which his suffering could be channeled into something which allowed him to transcend the restrictions of his illness and give meaning to his pain.
I found this album during a time of similar struggles in my own life, and the album was a sort of companion to me throughout that period. It gave me some sense of not being alone in my experience, and if Baths could make it through his period of isolation and pain, then there was no reason to think that my own wouldn't also pass eventually.
luckily it did, and now I can listen back to this album and find comfort in the role it played for me and also just enjoy it for being gorgeous music regardless of any personal connection I have to it. also I think it’s a hopeful album simply because it exists–a testament to Bath’s resilience as an individual and talent as an artist. and since he’s found health and happiness and gone back to making the very cute and wholesome music that is his usual style
anyway all this to say if you tend to feel a little bleh this time of year and have a high tolerance for hearing other’s tragedies then this album is a great fall listen and oddly kinda cozy
