We've been quiet for a while but we've recently started playing again and there was a new feeling in the so we've included some thoughts on this from each of us below.
Azin
It's funny having been away, or dormant, for a little while. Both of us have been getting on with various other parts of our lives. We hadn't played together for something like six months. That wasn't planned; in fact, we'd intended to get the Altered States album ready by the end of 2023 but, in the end we didn't quite manage it. A curious thing happened, the distance gave us a different perspective on our music, our lives, and our selves. Sometimes the best thing you can do is step away for a little while.
But, a few days ago, we stepped back. We played together, just a practice session, nothing too extravagant. But as we slipped back into the old rhythms, there was a new feeling to the music, something that's not always been prevalent in our music but felt and sounded good. It might be the extra maturity of six months of life, or it might have been because we were rusty, but there was a little bit of restraint to our playing. It created a little bit of extra space for the music to hang, a little bit of extra air for it to breathe. Whatever it was, it felt more musical in some way. It might just be the heady effects of playing again after a while so maybe it's an illusion but there might just be something to this.
Andy
At the risk of over-philosophising, progress often seems like it happens smoothly and in the same direction. Certainly, my own tastes have shifted significantly since I really embraced music as a teenager and looking backwards gives the impression of a linear path travelled. However, the reality is always messier: a combination of big steps forward, accidental forays into cul-de-sacs, unexpectedly scenic diversions, temporary roadblocks, and changes to the destination.
Our recent gap, the most significant in my playing since I first started playing, has seen physical changes adjust the creative. A slight rustiness in the wrists, a split second delay in getting around the kit, and lower stamina than my brain expects have tempered some of the excesses and forced reflection on what should be there, not just what could be.
In my 30s I've started enjoying the more nuanced offerings of my favourite artists, tracks I would skip on an album or overlook when populating a playlist in favour of the higher octane cuts. Tracks such as Last Ride In on Green Day's Nimrod or Diesel Power on The Prodigy's The Fat of the Land. The chance to develop some of the same nuance in the music that we make will only improve it.