🇲🇽 Two weeks that will never be forgotten…!

Hey,

I hope you’re doing well. It's Monday morning and this is our last day here in Mexico! We’re on our way back to Montreal as you’re reading this! 

We had such a great time here filled with so much laughter, all memorable and so good for the soul! We also leave with an incredible plan for 2026, something we’re all very thrilled and excited to share with you as there will be so many great things happening! 

I also wanted to thank you for your incredible comments regarding the release of City on Fire! I didn’t take the time to answer you all, but I’ll do it in the upcoming days! 

In the meantime, please enjoy some of the things we shared and enjoyed over the past week! 

🎧 What I’m listening to

Golden Hours - The Letter

Based between Brussels and Berlin, Golden Hours is comprised of past and present members of Gang Of Four, The Brian Jonestown Massacre, Tricky, The Fuzztones and The Third Sound.

They’re a band Alex and I really like and we have always been disappointed their music never truly reached a proper audience…! This new single is not their best song, but I’m inviting you to dig into their latest record, not very originally titled Golden Hours! 

📖 Reading highlight I’m pondering

My favorite author, Ernest Hemingway, reminded me of something I toasted with Alex last week: “Courage is grace under pressure”. 

This is why I love sports so much…! Some people only see well-trained people using their bodies’ abilities to get a crowd to cheer, but for me, what I see is someone connecting their heart, mind, and talent in a way that a very few can, and I try to apply this in my everyday life. 

Courage is the ability to maintain composure, dignity, and control when facing difficult or stressful situations. It is not about being fearless but about handling adversity with poise and integrity rather than panicking or breaking down. 

As we’re spending most of our days in meetings looking to bring this musical journey somewhere we never thought could be possible, these toasts are sometimes great reminders of what brought us on this musical journey in the first place and where we’d like it to go.
 
Easier said than done, but far from impossible, especially when applied one decision at a time! 

🎧 Podcast I’ve Enjoyed The Most

Noisey: John Cale - The British Masters

“Music was a language that allowed me to communicate without permission,” said John Cale himself, whose relationship to music I consider almost scientific-esque, architectural-like even, in the realm of the greatest musical minds such as Brian Eno. 

He’s an incredible cornerstone in the book I’m actually reading, which I shared with you last week, so I wanted to dig deeper into his work and approach to music as much as I could over the past few days. 

Here he was 9 years ago, one week shy of turning 74 years old and still digging for new sounds and new rhythms…! How inspiring! 

This truly fired up our conversations regarding what’s left to be done on Alex’s upcoming new record! 

📸 My Picture Of The Week 

Life is pretty wild here…! :)

💬 Shared in the Long Shadows Chat this week

I wanted to share a funny and cool anecdote with you, exposing in a nice way what kind of person Alex is — at least sometimes…! 

Following what has been a very long day of meetings and a long and quite passionate dinner conversation about pursuing the truth that is the only path toward freedom, I decided to invite Alex and some friends into my room for a last drink, hoping to end the day on a lighter note…! 

After what felt like an hour of great fun listening to The Ramones, talking about how many great songs this band wrote, everyone left the room. I kinda like that moment around 12am where I can crash in my bed and simply fall asleep watching tv, (a luxury, in some ways, as I don’t do this at home as I’m not really a tv person). So here I was, looking for the remote as the TV was already on some late Spanish-speaking TV show selling jewelry and random things of all kinds but pretty loud. 

I can’t find the TV remote so I keep looking… Keep looking…! And keep looking! Can’t find it anywhere near! Then, a moment of clarity arrives and a thought comes to my mind: Alex left with the remote and of course this is not an accident! He did it on purpose! There goes my moment! 

I call him. No answer. I run to his room and knock. Still no answer. I texted him and, of course, no answer! 

I then turned around toward the only place I didn’t look, a small table at the very end of the room, and there was my book, standing up (I normally lay it down) as a sign or a reminder to keep reading instead of watching TV!

Funny thing is the next morning, first thing Alex told me after I sat down at his table sounded like this:
Alex: Morning brother! Slept well? 
Me: Remote-ly strange! 
Alex: What a “novel” thing to say! 

We obviously both laughed, especially when I explained I was searching for the on/off button on the tv itself to realize there wasn’t any so I had to unplug it after moving a bunch of furniture to reach the wire…! 

Following what has been such an intensive week in our chat since Alex lost a dear friend mixed with all your incredibly deep and personal comments and compliments after we released City on Fire, I thought this short story would be a cool thing to share…! 

Let’s be great to one another! 

Your friend and Chief Operator, 
Jeff 

PS: Next week, I’ll share the City on Fire packages with you! 

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