Introducing the world to the past year or so of his life, the single opened up a whole new visual language and cinematic universe within the realm of Del Water Gap’s discography. A marker of the new chapter of his artistry, or a “pacer for the rest of the album” according to the artist, it set the scene with themes of movement and travel - both physically and figuratively. The first single, “All We Ever Do Is Talk”, was one of the first written for the album, and fittingly serves as the opening song on the track-list. “How do you face this perpetual narrative of what it feels like to be in your body looking out into the world and moving through your day and trying to make meaning and sense of it - of your work and life and relationships?” “A lot of life for me right now is not the high highs and the low lows, and a lot of the album is about trying to make sense of that feeling,” he explains. Touching on themes of romantic commitment, masculinity, self-perception, and existential dread, he explores the idea of connection whilst figuring yourself out, asks questions surrounding ambivalence and trying to make meaning from mundane moments, and finds a way to be okay without knowing all the answers. “Going into it, my goal was just to tell the truth and try to form a complete statement and an accurate representation of my life in a specific time,” he shares. While he didn’t go into the album with a crystal-clear idea for a narrative, he certainly knew he wanted it to feel like himself and the past year or so of his life. Dipping back into the unnamed second album, he started working with producers Sammy Witte, Ethan Gruska, Gabe Goodman, and Mike Malchicoff on what would become his greatest project yet. Thankfully, the pressure was lifted from his shoulders with a tour cancellation, and he was able to regroup at home and start fresh. I initially wanted to try to make my album on tour, which was very ambitious, a little overambitious.” Holden laughs, recalling the overwhelming task and subsequent breakdowns over non-related topics, such as whether to eat before or after the show. And my window to make my second album was very small, just as a result of my lifestyle. “I came out of that album release and out of the pandemic into about three years of touring and a lot of travel and a lot of new experiences and a lot of new relationships and creative partnerships. While his debut, self-titled album was a compilation of five or six years-worth of stories - including breakthrough single “Ode to a Conversation Stuck in Your Throat” - this next project was finished in a fifth of the time. I think I felt that coming into my second album.” “People say you have your whole life to make your first album. “I felt like I had to relearn how to be an artist on this album, which was a daunting process at first,” he shares. Cinematic, personal, and utterly his own, the masterpiece of I Miss You Already + I Haven’t Left Yet somehow transcends time itself - with 12 tracks that land somewhere between nostalgic classics and contemporary anthems. Painting a picture of motion and stillness through hyper-visual language and raw emotion, he has conquered the daunting task of the second album and solidified his corner of the alt-pop world. It is the space between falling in love and breaking your heart, between the version of you that’s projected to the world and the identity you’re still trying to figure out, between the high-highs and the low-lows, left and right, North and South, here and there. Through imagery of hotel rooms and train cars, he captures the temporality of the twenty-something years - and the places we find ourselves on the way to somewhere new. I miss you already and I haven’t left yet.’”Ī story of transience, from album to album, show to show, year to year, Del Water Gap’s sophomore studio album highlights the moments between the (supposedly) grand, monumental events. “His most famous poem is in the style of a note that someone is leaving, presumably on a kitchen counter, and it’s basically an apology note that says, ‘I’m sorry I ate the plums that were in the fridge.’ I opened to this poem and on top, written in pencil, is my grandmother’s name. “A few months ago, I was in and I saw this anthology of William Carlos Williams,” he continues. They’re organised by theme, from classical music to Buddishm to tourist guides to poetry. “It’s this beautiful, dimly lit wooden room and there’s bookshelves on every wall,” he tells me over Zoom, sitting outside on a sunny California morning. The highlight is her late husband’s study, where Holden sleeps when he visits. Unchanged since the 1950s, Del Water Gap (aka Holden Jaffe)’s 98-year-old grandmother has (perhaps accidentally) created a time capsule - from the 50s furniture to 1970s books to a 1990s-level internet connection. Walking into Patricia’s New York City apartment is quite possibly the closest you can get to travelling back in time.
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