29 octobre 2026 à 12:06:39
"Find Me In The Shadows" is about moving away from your past and realising you're much happier outside the spotlight and all the madness that comes with it. It's about protecting the things that matter most, particularly the people you love, and not allowing the negative parts of your past back into your life. There's a certain freedom in reaching a point where you no longer need to be at the centre of everything. You've grown, you've learned, and you've moved on. You're still carrying all that knowledge and experience, but you don't need to put it on display anymore. That's what the title means to me. If you're looking for me, you'll find me in the shadows, exactly where I want to be.
I've always been drawn to that atmospheric, sample-based sound of late-'90s trip-hop and downtempo music. Artists like DJ Shadow, UNKLE, Massive Attack and Portishead have been huge influences on me, particularly the way they combine strong rhythms with cinematic arrangements and a sense of mystery. With "Find Me In The Shadows", I wanted something immersive and atmospheric that would reflect the meaning behind the track. I love music that has depth to it, where you can put on headphones, get completely lost in it and discover little details you might have missed the first time.
One of the challenges with producing my own music is knowing when to stop working on it. I've been producing and mixing for over twenty years, so there's always something I could go back and adjust. But I've learned that sometimes the best thing you can do is leave a piece of music alone and trust what you've created. With this track, the important thing was making sure the production served the atmosphere and emotion rather than simply adding things for the sake of it. I wanted the music to have room to breathe and allow the listener to find their own way into it.
There's a breakdown in the track where the singer repeats the line "Time goes by without you." As the vocal continues, the music underneath begins to reverse, almost fighting against the rhythm. It struggles to hold everything together before eventually giving way, breaking down and returning to the lyric "You can find me in the shadows." I love that moment because the music is telling the story as much as the words are. To me, it represents that struggle between holding on to the past and finally letting it go. There's a point where you stop fighting against the direction your life is taking and accept that you've moved on. That's really what the whole song is about.
I'd love people to come away with a sense of freedom and acceptance. We all carry things from our past, and sometimes we spend far too much time fighting against things we can't change. This song is about reaching a point where you can let go of that struggle, take what you've learned and move forward with a bit more peace in your life. It's also about recognising what's genuinely important, protecting the people you love and being comfortable stepping away from things you've outgrown. "Find Me In The Shadows" is taken from my debut album, *Beneath A Sky Called Home*, which comes out on October 30th. After two years working on the record, I'm looking forward to finally sharing it with everyone, hearing what people make of it and hopefully finding opportunities to bring the music into a live setting.
Finding the balance between being creative and being overly critical of my own work. I've spent over twenty years working in music production, mixing and mastering, so I can hear a thousand little things I'd like to improve. That's useful when I'm working for other artists, but it can be a nightmare when I'm producing my own music! The challenge is knowing when to stop analysing and start enjoying what I'm creating. Sometimes the most interesting moments happen when you stop worrying about getting everything technically perfect and just follow an idea wherever it takes you.
I think a lot of people underestimate just how much work goes into releasing music independently. They hear a finished track on Spotify and don't necessarily realise that one person might have written, recorded, produced, mixed and mastered it, designed the artwork, arranged the distribution, made the videos and then spent weeks trying to convince the world to listen to it! There's also a misconception that being talented or making good music is enough to build an audience. Unfortunately, it doesn't work like that. The music business and the creative process are two very different things, and learning how to navigate both can be quite an education.
Change the instrument or change the environment. If I've been sitting in front of a computer for hours getting nowhere, I'll pick up a guitar, play a synthesiser or start experimenting with an unusual sound. Sometimes I'll deliberately use something I'm not particularly good at playing because it forces me to approach music differently. I also think it's important to get away from the studio altogether. Go for a walk, spend time with family or do something completely unrelated to music. Some of my best ideas arrive when I'm not actively looking for them. The trick is remembering to record them before they disappear!
I'm probably the last person who should be giving marketing advice! I've spent the last few weeks making all sorts of videos to promote my album, from wandering around fields with the artwork to making ridiculous little comedy sketches. Some have worked better than others, but I've genuinely enjoyed experimenting with different ideas. I think the most important thing is finding a way to promote your music that you actually enjoy. It's very easy to get caught up in algorithms, statistics and trying to work out what people want to see. But if you're constantly making content you don't believe in, it becomes exhausting very quickly. Make things that reflect your personality, support other artists and don't be afraid to have a bit of fun with it. And remember that a small number of people who genuinely connect with your music can be worth far more than thousands of people scrolling past it.
I'd recommend "Gone", which was the first single from my debut album, *Beneath A Sky Called Home*. It's a great introduction to another side of my sound, combining downtempo and trip-hop influences with the cinematic textures that run throughout the record. But ideally, I'd love people to listen to the whole album from beginning to end. I spent two years putting these twelve tracks together, and although they all have their own identities, they're very much part of the same story. There's a journey through the record that's best experienced in full, preferably with a good pair of headphones and an hour to yourself.