My new album will not be on Spotify, some new lyrics, a queer art blog

Hey folks,

Welcome back to another edition of Sharing Notes! Read online here.

This summer has been brutal for my chronic illness, and I haven't been able to write these as frequently as I'd like. It has been a hell of a month for my stress, given (gestures at everything). But the new record is coming soon soon soon.

I hope to return to my weekly rhythm of sharing artistic activism, creative inspo, and my own art. If that frequency sounds like too much (because I know we all have busy inboxes) just write me back and tell me if something else feels better, and I'll keep it in consideration. :)

I'm removing my music from Spotify

In case you hadn't heard, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek is investing the billions of dollars he has leeched from artists into weapons manufacturing. For myself and many other musicians, this is the last straw with Spotify. For that reason, my music will soon be unavailable on Spotify, including my upcoming album The Tower of Babel Falls. If you're a fan of my music, you can still enjoy it everywhere else, as before. You can even download my whole catalog for free on Bandcamp.

If you have used CD Baby to distribute your own music to Spotify and struggled to figure out how to delete your music from Spotify, I wrote a little how-to here.

Lyrics from "God Help Us if the Christians Ever Rule" off The Tower of Babel Falls

You know that your utopia,
the future that you're hoping for,
the easy answer power grab
is someone else's hell?
So drop your ego attitude
'cause Jesus never wanted to
control the world with force of law,
in case you couldn't tell.

Disidentification and Christianity in Queer Art

I wrote a reflection inspired by a passage from from a book on James Baldwin by Christoper Hunt called Jimmy’s Faith. I see more and more queer artists using Christian imagery coyly if not all out subversively, and it's exciting to consider a developing queer liberation theology as expressed through art. On my new record, Christian imagery features prominently on this record, and when I bring it up, I intend to hold it up as a measure to critique American Christianity and white evangelicalism at large.

Peace,
Arend

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