First Bloom began long ago with what now feels like a different me. I wrote the first version in Vancouver in November 2017 — two years into my life on the west coast, but still feeling incomplete without friends, community, or a sense of home. During this period writing music was therapeutic for me, and I was drawn towards thick, warm synths and pulsing rhythms that evoked light, comfort, and the promise of an eventual spring. The track sat dormant in my archives for years, waiting for the moment where my life finally came into focus around what I’d been searching for.
Since moving to Salt Spring Island in the fall of 2023, my life has been anything but settled. Two years of intense engineering work, wedding planning, and burnout finally forced a stop: this past winter I stepped back to take a leave of absence from work to rebuild my life into something balanced and sustainable. This pause — long walks in the forest and unhurried quality time in the studio — transformed Salt Spring from just where I live, into my home.
Revisiting First Bloom with this new context, the song took on deeper meaning. What began as an escape from a lonely city winter now feels like the first clear expression of the themes that define Further: the long arc from isolation to belonging, the cycles of exhaustion and renewal, and the rare moments when inner weather and the world outside finally line up.
Releasing it now, as spring arrives on Salt Spring and I re-examine how I work and live, marks a turning point — the end of 15 years as a bedroom producer, and the beginning of sharing my music publicly and rooting it in a real community.