ONLY HUMAN by Daniel Watson Lomax IV

Only Human, Recorded during the Covid era, marks the beginning of a departure from the sonic and thematic territory of my last three records. Where I once swore off guitars and live drums, I now found myself reconsidering, leading to a collaboration with my childhood friend Spencer Carrow in Philly. I’d send him stems, and he’d track acoustic drums through his vintage 1960s Langevin console, adding a more organic energy to the record. This is most notable on the Stevie Wonder interpolated track "Ennui Go" as well as "Wake Up". Spencer also contributed modular drum programming on tracks like "Backsliding" and "Together".

Lyrically, Only Human dives into relationships, existential dilemmas, and mental health struggles, all with a wry nod to the strange reality of pandy life; most notably on "Me & U", which playfully references specific Covid protocols.

This album also marks the last project I worked on with Eman Lubitz due to his move to Israel. However, he was able to contributed the opening piano part for "Me & U" via iPhone voice memo.

Visually, Only Human features the most intricate artwork that Dave Herr cooked up. The design was so ambitious that we had to bring in another professional, Josh Treadaway, to help bring it to life. Josh was tasked with creating a 3D rendering of a robot holding me on a table as if I had just been freshly baked out of the oven. It was an undertaking—especially with no budget—but the team was strong, and we pulled it off. Over all I feel like a lot of the songs on this album are about a minute too long, a mistake I would try not to make again.

danielwatsonlomaxiv.com