Rumors of a new release by Alex...!

Hey,

I hope you’re doing well...! I shared a new release rumor in the "Shared in the Long Shadows Chat this Week" section if you want to take a look prior to reading this! 

It’s Sunday morning and I’m all smiles while putting these words down even if we went through another snowstorm all weekend long! Truly miss the Caribbeans! 

We promised you an incredible 2026... Let’s get started! 

🎧 Music I’m listening to

I’m sure this was the section of my missive you were the most excited about, even above the speedo and night at the hospital I’ve been teasing you about last week, and this is what I really like about you all! 

One of my favorite picks on the last Cruise to the Edge was the band Airbag. I really like their vibes and melodies, and above all, they’re amazing people I had the chance to speak with about music, life, and how great it is to connect with like-minded people! 

I added my favorite song from them on my The Club playlist! 

Listen to the Missive Playlist

📖 Reading highlight I’m pondering

Knowing I would be back into living in the 20th century — no wifi! — I really struggled to choose the right book to bring, as I knew I would like to get into my room a few hours before every concert and embark on a journey within a journey as it brings me back to connect with art and meaning! 

I realized that living on this cruise ship truly had the same spirit and vibe as a festival, but this one was even more unique as there are no green rooms or artists' lounges where you can simply regroup and focus on what’s about to happen on stage! 

For artists like us, and for the kind of music we play, these elements are key since it’s kinda easy to get carried away by this very unique vibe and to talk to incredible people nonstop, and then, at least for me, when I hit the stage without having this little moment with myself, as it often happens in festivals, I feel a little lost and disconnected... I am more self-conscious, I look at the audience more, and I am less connected with the why we’re really there on that stage sharing what is to me more than music, but our entire selves as a unit, not as individuals within a band! 

As some of you know, we really like to spend time and speak with people, which is pretty much all we did during that cruise while not on stage! But a little hour for ourselves before hitting the stage, at least for me, is more than necessary. Alex’s music is not about performance but about connecting all together and letting go. 

All of that to say that I chose to bring the book Norwegian Wood, written by Haruki Murakami, a wonderful and generous gift received by our cruise photographer, Stephanie...! And this was a great choice in the end!!!! 

This book goes deep into mental health issues, human relationships in their entire complexities, grief, and the extension or limitations of love through the painful transition into adulthood! I highly recommend it...!

"What happens
when people
open their hearts? 
They get better.” 
- Haruki Murakami

🎙️ Podcast That Inspired Me

Tetragrammaton with Rick Rubin - David Whyte ON LOVE

As I knew I would be living off the grid for a few days, I downloaded a few podcasts in case I would have some time to listen to them while doing my morning run or our daily 10k steps walking around the ship all together (as if we weren't weird — or maybe I should say different — enough already)! 

Another moment I really love is this one when I can run in the morning listening to something meaningful and empowering. There’s even a racetrack on the upper deck of the cruise ship... This thing is simply insanely huge! 

I decided to use the gym’s treadmills for my morning ritual, as they’re all aligned straight toward the sea, and looking at the sun coming up while listening to a conversation between David Whyte and Rick Rubin was a moment that resonated all day long afterwards in my conversations and moments with each and every new friend I had the privilege to share with. Especially that morning, following Miss Isabel’s night at the hospital...! 

📸 My Picture Of The Week 

Sunset is magical most of the time... But this one, being the entire band together at the very back of the ship, looking at this incredible spectacle all speechless, will live on in our hearts forever...! How many of those do we have the blessing to witness and immortalize?! 

💬 Shared in the Long Shadows Chat this week

This chat has been insanely busy before and after the cruise in a way I haven’t seen in a long time! We all didn’t want this cruise, especially this vibe and spirit uniting us, to end in some ways! It was and still is so beautiful! 

But the thing that struck me the most in this chat, and I’m sure it will be the same for you, is that I read, or maybe misread, something about a new release from Alex on Record Store Day...! Was I dreaming? Was I too much under the Caribbean sun? 

One thing for sure, you’ll know more about this in the next days! 

Let’s be great to one another! 

Your friend and Chief Operator, 
Jeff 

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