Sometimes, when you are in the middle of building a house, you get the urge to build something smaller.
Something not as grand in scale, but still important to the life of the main structure.
A shed. A pool area. Or a guest house.
You don’t?
Well, I do.
The Echoes
Not everything needs to be epic in scale and mass.
Not everything needs to carry the full weight of the larger structure.
Sometimes, things just need to exist in their own little space, away from the bigger world at large, like cute little Tribbles from Star Trek.
This is healthy.
This is natural.
This is sometimes needed.
Even if the little fuzzy things do start multiplying when you are not looking.
That is what The Echoes are.
They are shorter pieces.
They are not oddities.
They are not lesser works.
They are pieces that carry the same importance and meaning as anything found in the larger parts of my writing, but without needing to become one of those larger parts.
Some pieces will feel like hidden layers beneath something more grand.
Some will provide basic insight into how to enter a certain type of relationship.
Some will feel like you are living inside my head during a gentle, melancholy drive at night.
Some will feel like the big bad wolf got a hard-on and decided to take matters into his own hands.
That is the range.
That is the point.
The Echoes are not bound to the order, format, restrictions, or machinery of The Cycles.
They may come from the same emotional atmosphere.
But they do not have to show up uniformly.
They are free to be their punk, emo, goth, or whatever selves without my larger world making them clean up for the little song and dance show.
These are perfect places to start if understanding all the stacked layers feels like too much to jump into at once.
You can read any of these pieces out of order, and they still work.
If The Cycles are a full meal, consider these sandwiches.
Still made with care.
Still meant to feed you.
Just easier to digest.
Companion track: “Signals Over the Air” – Thursday