NEW MUSIC ALERT: “It’s Only For Tomorrow”

When I first started composing “It’s Only For Tomorrow,” I had no idea it would even be a viable product. Last Fall, I was enrolled in an online Berklee College of Music specialization for Music Production (through Coursera), and I needed to write a song for the course.

As with many of my projects nowadays, it starts in a digital audio workstation (DAW), in this case, BandLab (https://www.bandlab.com), because I like to write music on-the-go. I pulled up an old sketch from a backlog of random ideas, fully expecting it to be a throwaway project that would rot in a project folder once the grade was submitted.

Instead, the piece pulled me in.

The more I kept working on it, the more inspired I was to keep cultivating the project. It started off as a couple solo piano ideas (as most of my songs do), but I started layering in different synth lines and doubles. It’s like…the project needed to be worked on…the song needed to be written. The track took on a life of its own, I think. 

I have a feeling I’m not alone in that thinking...that sometimes the track just writes itself.

By the end of the course, I had a complete composition and a relatively rough mix. So, after the class was over, I decided to dive back in and start producing it as a commercial release. This meant tying up some loose ends, refining some of the sounds, expanding the composition a bit, adding other textural items…and giving it a thorough re-mix and master.

I was excited then. I AM even more excited now.

I’m not sure why, but this release feels like it’s hitting differently. Maybe it’s because I’m at the precipice of a big change in my life, or because this tune is the first one I’ve released in about a year, but this feels different. But also, very familiar.

I’ve been releasing music now since 2020, and while that isn’t a long time, it has definitely been a lot of work especially considering I’ve been carving out time wherever I can in the cracks of my day (and often very early mornings and very late nights) for years. And that was built upon years of study, research, and training to get to this point. And it certainly didn’t happen overnight. “Happening overnight” has been "happening" now for the better part of 20 years or so as my career as a professional musician has developed.

Without getting into technical specifications, I wanted the music to FEEL uplifting, not just SOUND uplifting. I wanted it to evoke something in the listener, just like it did with me when I was writing it. I wanted it to speak to perseverance…to moving or pushing on, even when it is difficult. Moving from darkness to light.

I think this one will forever be near and dear to my heart. 

That is all for now. 

"It’s Only For Tomorrow" drops on September 1st. 

You can pre-save or listen across all major platforms here: https://www.michaelandrewnewell.com/info