Usawa means balance.
Each album I make represents a time or phase of my life for me, one that I unknowingly enter when I start to express myself through sonic exploration, collaboration, and improvisation, and that I fully appreciate and realize only retrospectively as I am leaving that time. This album came to me during a somewhat difficult time in which I was grappling with a sense of identity and purpose while also attempting to balance that with self-acceptance and compassion. The most beautiful thing about Los Angeles to me is that living here I am surrounded by the most ambitious, driven and inspiring people; but that can also make it an
environment where losing sight of self-love and self-compassion can be crushing and damaging to one’s perspective. Through this album I endlessly sought to rediscover the joy and excitement of simple creation,
especially with others, which explains in part why this album has more collaboration than any of my previous work. Connecting my music to my love and enjoyment of life, rather than thinking about it first and foremost as an external goal or a career, was instrumental in helping
me restore this balance.
The album was named after the track Usawa, made with my friend Onyi, that came to represent the mood and direction of the album. We made it with very little planning and really just expressing ourselves and trying out lots of ideas in the moment, which became a beautiful way for us to collaborate and set the tone for our other collaborations. I hope that in listening you can use this music to create, rediscover, or enhance the balance of joy and dedication. Thank you for listening.
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Tristan
Tristan de Liège is an experimental electronic/downtempo artist based in Los Angeles, California. He also produces music as Tethys and Thoma. He is currently on Emancipator's Loci Records.