January Update
2026: Let's see what happens I guess
It’s January. It’s cold. It’s wet. It’s all just a bit sad, innit.1
But for some reason we’ve collectively decided that this dank, miserable time of year when we’re at our fattest and most penny-less is the best time to inflict ourselves with goals and dreams. It’s the perfect time to kickstart the next 12 months of grind!
For what joy?
Consider this your permission to spend an extra hour in bed tomorrow morning.
Inevitably, I have actually been dreaming about what this year might look like for our little music collective. Here are a couple of thoughts:
EP recording
I’ve got five tracks that are drawing close to being ready to record. The songs cover topics including death, grief, miscarriage, and faith — wait, don’t go! I promise it’s more upbeat than it sounds.
For each song, I’d like to do a Substack-first release around 6 weeks ahead of streaming, so subscribers here will be the first to listen. Perhaps when three or four singles have been released, we’ll release the full EP (in summer?)2.
I learnt a bunch of lessons when recording Beneath the Stars before Christmas. Not least: having a hard deadline is handy! (Ain’t nobody moving Christmas). So I’ll be working on some milestones — but not yet, as this is January and I don’t hate myself that much.
Live music
I think live music is the best way to experience real, authentic human performance. No screens, no scrolling, no skipping tracks, no AI, just people doing what they’ve done for thousands of years. With beer, hopefully.
Back in October, I did an acoustic preview of a few songs with Zoë for some friends in a living room. This year, I’d love to do a couple of live performances with the whole group in London somewhere, and maybe some exclusive mini-performances straight to Substack too.
More music with friends
2025 was for me a year of collaboration — I wrote about this on my other Substack. In 2026, I want even more!
More walks in the country
Unrelated but related — I live in the centre of London, but a lot of my writing and thinking is inspired while out in nature. So I need to get out more (says my wife).
Quick announcement
Due to a cockup with our music distributor, the Beneath the Stars lyric video has finally been uploaded to our new VEVO account on YouTube. Just in time for Christmas 2026 (facepalm).
Happy New Year!
Graham x
Here in the Northern Hemisphere anyway. My sister is living her best life in the New Zealand summertime.
If you’re wondering, releasing singles first and then combining those into an EP release is one suggested approach to giving your songs the best chance of being ‘playlisted’ - i.e. making it on to the Spotify/Apple playlists which theoretically increases discovery. I don’t want to care about that stuff, but more people discovering our music would be cool.