22 March 2020, I finally get to the lobby of my building, turn the corner to be out of sight, fall to the ground and weep. I had just returned to Melbourne after a three week tour of Japan. My overnight flight was punctuated by COVID test before being forced into a taxi. Now I was waiting for my friend to let me into my apartment.

My friend had been living in my appartment while I was overseas and due to move in. My previous housemate took the opportunity to bail early and let my friend stay without paying rent or bond. When I regained my composure and asked him to pay he told me he couldn't because all the gigs had dried up. So, I had to tell him to be on his way.

The only other contact I had that day was my little sister. She had driven thirty minutes to deliver a care package of food. Being Australian meant that I needed to quarantine for two weeks because I had been out of the country. Now I was alone in a tiny two bedroom apartment that I couldn't leave. From crowded dance floors in Osaka to despair in a few short days.

The first week was quite easy. The second was more difficult. Previously I had been working two jobs teaching English as a foreign language. One job ceased operations and the other moved online. I still remember signing off on my second day of teaching online, crawling into bed and crying. The stress of learning a new system together with the lack of human contact was impacting me.

The thing that got me through this period of my life was music. While in Japan I bought a SP-202 and a number of cassettes. A combination of enka, karaoke, child keyboard arrangement and others. Using a walkman, ko-33, sp404sx and sp202 I spent five weeks making about eighty beats. From that eighty I trimmed it down to just seventeen and sent them off to be mastered.

These beats are dirty. They are meant to be. Many are in mono and feature short loops because of the limited internal memory of the sp202 and ko-33. It features the degradation of forgotten relics both in hardware and in cassettes. The hardware limits the possibilities and add to the overall presentation of the sound.

Though made in during a tumultuous period of my life, the still reflects my emotional state quite well. From the chill textures of "you did it too" to the chaotic frustration of "Tkngtewtrtthwll" this album is a snapshot of early pandemic onset and its emotional consequences.

Since this five week period I was able to recover and connect my life together again. It prompted me to seek psychological help which I am still attending now. I was able to find another housemate although it did take a few months of double rent to do so. My second job returned to online classes but with international borders in place I am still unemployed.

Thank you for listening to this album.