The Midsummer Station

DREAMS AND DISASTERS

SHOOTING STAR

GOLD

"Life is full of dreams and disasters. When things go right, you feel like you're on top of the world and when things go bad, you're heartbroken, but you've got to figure out how to press on regardless of your situation because life is all about the journey."

DEMENTIA

"Dementia is a darker song about how everybody thinks of how life would be different now if you had made better choices in the past. If you let it, that can drive you crazy. If you don't let the past stay in the past, it'll be worse. It's hard to know in the moment how the choices I'm making right now will affect me later, but you can't really think about that. Dementia is my way of saying let the past stay in the past. Don't let the 'what ifs' frequent your mind too much. Put that stuff to bed."

"I wanted to sort of capture the idea that everybody can start a movement. If we all unite and capture this sort of standing on the edge, ready to leap off kind of feeling, knowing that even though everyone has dark days, if really work together we can make anything happen."

I'M COMING AFTER YOU

"This might be my favorite track on the new record, because it's really cheeky, it's not to be sung in any kind of seriousness. So it's all about tongue-in-cheek, and there's nobody better at puns and the subtle genius of punnery, if you will, than Matt Thiessen from Reliant K. He, myself and this guy named Brian Lee, this brilliant guy from Nashville, LA, and New York, just kind of bouncing around between all three places, took a day in Nashville at Matt's house and wrote this track. I'm so excited about this one."

"I got to work with this brilliant writer named Emily Wright from Dr. Luke's universe and also Nate Campany, a brilliant writer from out in New York City, too. This is the first track I ever really got to cut up a long vocal phrase, the 'go-o-o-old.' It's all just cut up on the grid in Pro Tools, so it's the first time I've ever been able to do that, ever really wanted to do that, so I think it turned out really cool. It's so much fun to play live. Each time we play the song, it's like every night around the world, more and more kids know the words, and it's one of those real 'live' songs. The more you play it, the more fun it gets."

SPEED OF LOVE

"I played a show last year at the 9:30 Club in D.C. and I remember, right after soundcheck, I started making this track, and I had it in my head for a long time and I remember playing it for a bunch of my friends... so I'm really excited about this one. This is my favorite dance production track on the new record. The top line was written by myself and Matt Thiessen and Sam Hollander from L.A."

GOOD TIME

"I feel like every artist is inherently granted one shot to sing about having a good time in his or her life, and six months ago, I realized I hadn't cashed in my chips yet. So I thought, 'I'm gonna sit down and I'm gonna give this a shot... and get my friend Carly to sing on it.' The final product rarely exceeds your expectations, and this thing just kind of happened."

EMBERS

"Embers is sort of the part 2 of Shooting Star, in that it's a very sort of rise up, anthemic unite, because the dark days are inevitable and they're headed your way but you can't dwell on those things. If you can figure out how to look past those dark days and join together to overcome those, you're way better off, because suddenly you have a brighter outlook."

SILHOUETTE

"I love writing music from the imagination, but this song is sort of the opposite. This song is probably the most personal, deep, based in reality song I've ever written. I have a song called Lonely Lullaby that maybe rivals it a little bit. This one is so down to the nitty gritty of what I've been through. It's so drawn on past scenarios and past relationships that sort of went wrong and things I wish I could forget about and figure out how to let the past live in the past."

METROPOLIS

"Metropolis is a song about Superman, believe it or not, but it doesn't mention him by name, and it plays to the idea that everybody thinks superheroes are indestructible or bullet-proof. You can't take this guy down but he has to deal with all this baggage that never comes out. What is that like? How that must eat at his mind behind the scenes when he's lying awake at night. So it's a bittersweet track."

TAKE IT ALL AWAY

"I feel like this is the best closer to any record I've ever done because it sort of takes you down gently after a crazy ride across a lot of different landscapes, lots of ups and downs. It's a very sad song, it's kind of a depressing song lyrically, but there's something about it that feels like, it's like why I listen to the Swiss Army Romance by Dashboard Confessional if I have girl problems and I'm dealing with relational stuff. You have to have something that you can sort of heal with, and my hope is that this song is that for somebody else. If it's that for one other person, I feel like my job is done."