Mitigating Circumstances by Spencer Segelov

Written & recorded a song a week during lockdown with merely a laptop and GarageBand for company- things got out of hand and I was in doors longer than expected. I go crazy without playing music so to keep my mental health together, I turned it into a discipline. After my day job finished I would do drums on Monday and work through the instrumentation as required Tuesday to Friday evenings (either playing instruments, sound design or sampling). Saturday I'd sing and Sunday I would mix- then simply repeat for some 11 weeks.

When it came to the final master Bobby said that 11 songs bugged him so I did one more (Jenny always makes the news). Then he told me he couldn't master the finished album for two days, which gave me time to write and record one final 13th song (My Big Speech).

I had no idea we'd be indoors long enough for it to become an album- but here it is, a R&B, pop thing with 13 new songs.

I've had to record and mix this myself (see indoors comment above), which I've never done before so it may not potentially win 'best engineered album of the year' at the GRANNIEs hence the 'mitigating circumstances' but it is free.

It's been a boyhood dream since 2005 to do an R&B album so I'm pleased this enforced segregation has given me this positive. The album goes through 80's funk, Prince, New Jack Swing, slow jam, Outkast, Pharrell, John Legend, Kelis, Justin Timberlake, Beyonce, Kanye West, Solange, Childish Gambino, Trap, hip hop and other noises.