Next Level
Songs about change and what stays with you.
Written retrospectively on 27 September 2026, dated to the album's first recorded publication on this website. The linked album is the current edition; streaming release dates may differ.
Next Level is available to hear on the website, including Gravity, The Future Never Came, and Japanese-language verses in Fake and When the Last Bell Rings.
Next Level is available to listen to here on the website. The title means something personal to me: recognizing how much my life has changed, while still living with things from the past.
Some of those memories are difficult. Gravity comes from a relationship where I felt pulled into arguments. The Future Never Came remembers a friend I lost. Other parts of the record reflect the sounds and influences I've come to love, including the Japanese verses in Fake and When the Last Bell Rings.
A different point in my life
The cover shows a figure facing a rain-covered window, with his reflection and the city visible in the glass. That image fits an album where I keep looking back while trying to work out what comes next.
The current sequence runs from Neon Siren through Gravity, followed by acoustic versions of Next Level and Fake.
Listen to Next Level. I've written more about the experiences behind these songs in Why these songs matter.