Right now Folded Paper Hearts is mostly ideas.
Some are written down properly ... some are rough recordings on our phones and others are just conversations about what we might be able to make over the next six to eight months.
The next release we are working toward is Day Nine.
The track is a very emotional song about losing a baby through miscarriage. It looks at the grief behind that loss and how it can affect both parents, sometimes in very different ways.
People dont always know what to say about miscarriage, so alot of parents end up carrying it quietly. There can be sadness, guilt, anger and all these questions that nobody can really answer.
There is also the future you already started imagining ... and then suddenly that future is gone.
We want the music to leave room for those emotions. This isnt something we want to overproduce or make bigger than it needs to be. The subject is already heavy enough and the words should be allowed to speak for themselves.
Lucas and I are also developing an idea about a doll. The project doesnt have an official name yet, but it is taking us toward a darker and more alternative-rock sound.
We are writing the story and building the music together, with Millz on vocals and guitar. Right now it is still pieces of lyrics, rough guitar parts and ideas about who this doll is ... but it already feels strange and theatrical, which is probably why we keep coming back to it.
We are also in talks with our good friend Joshua Arran about recording some of his songs. Joshua has written some fabulous songs, and we want to revisit them.
Nothing is completely decided yet ... but the conversations have started and we are excited about where it could go.
Going into the new year, the bigger plan is to release a full-length album. There are alot of songs to finish and probably even more that wont make the final track list. Thats just part of putting an album together.
We are also planning an acoustic performance called Skeleton Sessions.
The idea is to take some of our favourite songs and strip them back to their bones. Less production, fewer layers, less software and nowhere for the songs to hide. Just the vocals, guitars and whatever emotion was there when they were first written.
There is a lot planned and some of it will probably change along the way.
But from where we are standing right now, the next several months include a single, the unnamed doll project, possible recordings with Joshua Arran, a full-length album and Skeleton Sessions.
We dont have every part figured out yet ... but the ideas are here, and now we have to turn them into something people can actually hear.