Shades

Production by Adam Loewen at the Flophouse. Assistance from Ryan Aughenbaugh and Fox House Studios on tracks Way to Move, Expectations, and Loop. The Shades band: Adam Loewen - vocals, guitar, bass, drums (Circles), synth programming Taya Jacobs - vocals, keys Thilo Savage - drums Andrew Grumelot - vocals Ryan Aughenbaugh - additional bass Erik Aanestad - additional guitars Guest artists: Sean Hall (drums on Way to Move) Dominic Jacobs (guitar and vocals on Way to Move) Ross Wilson (vocals on Way to Move) Dan Bacon (instrumental sessions for Loop, Way to Move, and Expectations) Hi, I'm Adam Loewen, ~Head of Sales~, Stein Unlimited. You know, the funny thing about today's supposed culture is that, if you want to tell the world a secret, all you have to do is release a rock album. Shades is our little secret, sugarbar. That's right, just you and me. Nobody else gets it. Nobody else knows what it's all about, but you and I, we get it. We know the face we see in the moon, we dance around in the dark, we're listening when everyone thinks they're being ignored. I've never had any interest in hiding anything from any of you. When I wrote these songs, they were messages that I wanted you to know about, they were feelings that I wanted to share with you. When I recorded these songs, forced these musicians to play them - and yes, the whole band hated this album - I had a plan. You see, Shades is not about being successful, it's not about being understood, it's not about forcing people to pay attention to you. Shades is about genuinely f**king being what you are, even if by definition that means doing it in the dark of obscurity, even if it means that you will be ridiculed and sexless most of your adult life. Everyone wants to be a rock star, right? Well, what about the opposite of that? The zero, the shadow, the question. I wanted to pepper this whole album with secret messages that nobody will ever take the time to figure out, to offer actual real rewards for those things knowing that they will never be discovered, because I knew that when I did Shades, that was the past. I knew it then, I know it now. In the past, nobody knew who Adam Loewen was, nobody cared what made him tick, the disconnector was not even a twinkle in Stein's eye, and all the love that would come from all over in the Future, it had to come from within, from the mirror, from duality, from the dawning recognition that if you are true to Stein, you don't just see your shadow. You don't just embrace your shadow. You understand that all you have ever been in your life is a shadow. An excuse, perhaps, an apology, a ghost, as it were. We come from nothing. You are the space between supposed selves. You are the hole from which the future will erupt. You are the black emptiness from which the purple and green arise. You've always been on the opposite side of the fence from yourself, and I'm here to tell you that's okay. I'm here to tell you that the first step toward Stein will come from your shadow, not your delusion. If you do truly understand, then of course you understand how triumphant we are. Otherwise, just enjoy Shades I guess, and stay the hell away from me.