"Planet Everfree" is the first single from The Flower to Disappear, the forthcoming new Milieu album, due to release on June 23rd 2022 on digital and ltd. edition CD formats. Recorded during Summer of 2021 for inclusion on the 11th Cottage Industries compilation at Neo Ouija, it was not apparent until Winter that this track was not merely a one-off, but the first step of a new Milieu album.
With a title lovingly plucked from the angelic harmonies of Kate and Cindy, the cut conjures up visions of a beautiful green and blue landscape, a peaceful place and time, filled with joy and contentment - a distinct and deliberate contrast against the state of the world we live in today. I decided to focus the work I was doing for this album on the act of escapism - what could facilitate it? For myself, rituals of escapism include so many things, most of which I need on a weekly or even daily basis in order to keep my head on my shoulders - coffee, jazz and metal music, sunshine, creative work, time spent with my family, willful ignorance of headlines and the information overload of the internet, THC, cozy slippers, domesticated animals, literature and poetry, MST3K, vintage cartoons, comedies and sitcoms, conversations with friends and respected colleagues, video games, sleep and meditation. That's a long list, and not nearly complete, but it really convinced me that this was the way forward - the mechanism I needed to cut through the mire of suffering, pain and war - and that in doing so, I would be able to bring these tools to others, in the hopes that they could use them as well as I have, to escape, even momentarily.
Some methods of facilitating escapism are not necessarily healthy, either, and I wanted to outline this difference with my work as well. Self-care is not selfishness, escapism is not egotism, and there can be no us without you and I being here first. So, "Planet Everfree" and by extension, The Flower to Disappear, are both my direct contribution to the facilitation of escapism through purely pleasant, safe and hopefully enriching paths. The further I go into the realms of philosophy and the deeper my understanding of the uncompromising universe we find ourselves in, the more apparent it becomes to me that we could accomplish so much for ourselves and each other by simply being kind, by embodying empathy, patience, forgiveness and love, because the universe is not designed with these things in mind. The void is the void, an abyss that cares not, sees not, gives and takes without reason or justification.
I often see people quoting that phrase "You must be the change you wish to see in the world" - and this is a good start - but I happen to believe that this is not merely enough. Embodiment of change and principles of progress only gets us so far. We must go further, inspire ourselves, challenge ourselves and each other to do better, to build things, to reach past the mundane survival we have barely kept up, and to really truly work, toward a better time and place for everyone.
It's funny to me, that I just turned 39, and you'd think that with middle age comes some kind of conservatism, the dreaded "Get off my lawn" disconnect of all of our lives, but instead, I continually feel that the older I get, the more naive I somehow become. The more I learn, the less I know. It's as if I have decided that the teachings of the modern world that I and everyone else have drilled into ourselves when we become adults are just constructs, designed by others, devoid of empathy, things built to perpetuate the way things have been, the way they already are. With my work, here in the musical world and elsewhere in the written word and visual metaphor, I refute these systems and structures, I deny them and return them to whoever invented them to begin with. They do not serve us, they do not carry us forward - only hope and love can do that.
This is a lot, I know, especially for copy on a single of electronic music, but I promise you, as someone who has dedicated his entire adult life to the creative act, that it can get better. Make things, be kind, be constructive and not destructive, be mindful of others, try to learn something new each day, try to understand that you can't ever know everything either. Know yourself, and help others get to know themselves, and while I cannot say any kind of karma exists in the world, I am certain that positive thought leads to positive action, and positive action leads to a better world for everyone. On the road to a better world, we're going to need all the relief we can get - we will all need a flower to disappear.
So here are four different strains of pleasurable escapism for you - two of them filled with polymetric psychedelia and enough stimming and sensory overload that the spectrum-dwellers like myself out there listening will feel right at home. There is a short composition for finger-picked 10-string acoustic guitar and Karplus-Strong synthesizer, as well - a palate cleanser I hope. Finally, there is a fantastic alternative mix of "Burgundy Boredoms" (another LP cut) from near and dear friend Zwei Kreise, which recalls many of our favorite textures and shapes from the late 90s-early 00s electronic sound. I have also assembled a video for "Planet Everfree" which contains mutated visuals built from a 1936 cartoon I grew up watching, and some prose written for the new album, and you can watch that here:
youtu.be/OCmVorGhyRk
Finally, there is a special listening party event scheduled for 7 PM EST on Wednesday June 22, 2022, where ticket holders can listen to the entirety of The Flower to Disappear ahead of release, while enjoying semi-generative visuals and a jovial chatroom. You even get a bonus EP download when you grab a ticket:
milieumusic.bandcamp.com/merch/milieu-the-flower-to-disappear-new-album-listening-party-ambient-modular-set 
