On December 6th, I released Where’ve You Been?—an album about my recovery from mental health issues. The songs are raw and personal, wabi-sabi in their imperfections, trying to capture the moments between despair and hope, loss and renewal. My hope is that it’s like sitting in on an intimate performance, where the cracks in the sound tell as much of the story as the songs themselves do.

This album is for those who’ve felt out of place, broken, or unsure, but who know there’s beauty in imperfection. It’s for those who embrace the weird, raw, and deeply personal. If that’s you, welcome.

Listeners have compared the sound to The Velvet Underground with hints of Neil Young. Honest lyrics meet “haunting almost surf rock guitar” and understated saxophone moments. Choppy, indie, and raw—full of quirks and oddments, from audio artifacts to vocal nuances—it reflects the reality of creating during dark mental health days.

Recorded live in various rooms of our Vermont home, the stripped-down production embraces imperfection. Guitar, vocals, simple electronics, and natural flaws became part of the story, capturing the raw and unfiltered essence of healing.

This album is a deeply personal journey, inviting listeners to lean into its quirks and uncover something real.

Artist’s Statement

Creating Where’ve You Been? has been part of my process of reconnecting with the self I lost for three decades. This album represents an exploration of my long struggle with mental illness, identity, and love. For 28 years, I lived within a fog of confusion and emotional turmoil, disconnected from the world and unable to access the music and creative spirit that once defined me. This work represents part of my process of a spiritual reawakening, the beginning of a return to the core of who I am, and an attempt to reconcile the person I am becoming with the person I used to be.

Through songs like Flying with New Wings and The Lifted Weight, I explore the painful yet necessary process of breaking free from illusions, confronting past mistakes, and emerging into a new state of awareness.

This album also draws on my experiences with Ayahuasca, as seen in Something More Than Coffee. The use of plant medicine as a catalyst for spiritual awakening is one of the tools that helped me heal wounds I didn’t even know were there, offering clarity where confusion once reigned. The themes of personal growth, the need for escape, and finding solace in both internal and external connections are woven throughout these songs.

I hope that this album and the journey it touches on can resonate with others and remind them that healing, while painful, is possible when we let go of ego, and embrace love, connection, and self-acceptance.

About Where’ve You Been?

Blending Indie, Psychedelic, and Folk genres, this album chronicles my journey through a psychic maze where reality blurred and every step felt uncertain. It explores themes of heartbreak, transformation, and redemption—serving as both a love poem and an apology to Danielle, the woman who helped me find myself and showed me what it means to truly love.

The songs delve into various aspects of self-discovery and mental health, addressing the chaos of fragmented identities and the challenge of finding inner peace. Through my lyrics, I confront confusion, shame, and guilt while working toward acceptance and understanding.

Throughout the album, themes of regret and reflection interweave with hope and redemption. Songs like Never Made Me Lose, If You Don’t Mind, and Saving Me document the journey of accepting past mistakes, welcoming help, and rediscovering my voice and identity. In creating this work, I was able to uncover truths that I hadn’t fully recognized during the writing process.

Some have described my sound as reminiscent of The Velvet Underground with a touch of Neil Young. The lyrics are honest, paired with elements like “haunting almost surf rock guitar” and saxophone moments that carry their own understated charm. It’s not conventional, but if you lean into its flow, you might uncover something real.

This is no slick, pop production. It’s choppy, indie, and full of quirks—audio artifacts from cheap cables, drafty rooms, and the best-possible takes during dark mental health days. It’s the work of someone who hadn’t sung publicly since 1994, rediscovering their voice through trial and vulnerability, all while sharing the raw interior of a mental breakdown.

The album’s production is stripped-down and intimate, with all tracks recorded unsimultaneously in various rooms of our Vermont home. Using guitar, vocals, simple electronic elements, and other instruments, I aimed to embrace the imperfections of the process. While I initially sought perfection, my mental health challenges guided me toward a more authentic approach. Lo-fi artifacts, vocal nuances, and natural flaws became part of the story—they reflect a journey toward accepting vulnerability and letting the imperfections speak as much as the music and lyrics do.

Each track is a snapshot of my healing process, captured with minimal equipment to create an unvarnished sound that mirrors the genuine essence of this deeply personal journey.

About Sabin

I was born and raised in the heart of the Green Mountains in the gateway to Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom. I started playing flute and saxophone in my school band and began singing in the 8th grade. I participated in music festivals with my classmates, and in 1991 I was asked to join Village Harmony, a Vermont-based youth chorus and performance group. In 1992 we appeared on public radio, toured England giving concerts and shape-note workshops, and recorded an album called Emerald Stream.

Also at about the time I joined Village Harmony, I repaired and taught myself to play my mother’s 1964 Sears folk guitar and started writing songs on a daily basis, resulting in The Emerson Sessions, a set of demos that I had recorded on my Emerson tape deck between 1992 and 1994. Sometime around 1994, I experienced a deep, long-term identity break.

I lost touch with who I was, including my ability to write music, and I ultimately joined the corporate world. It wasn’t until recently, through a process of spiritual reawakening, that I began to rediscover myself and music.

After years of silence, I returned to music with a renewed sense of purpose and creativity, releasing works that mirrored the profound emotional and spiritual transformations I was experiencing. It began with the single A Little Longer in early 2023, followed by a series of EPs: For Winter, 2022, a suite of three evocative piano pieces; two guitar-driven collections, It Can Be Difficult Sometimes and Getting There; and wrapping up the triptych, Songs From The Other Side Of The Event Horizon released this past February. Each release reflects a chapter of my journey—infused with themes of healing, self-discovery, and reconnecting with the musician I thought I had lost.

My music is rooted in this raw emotional honesty, blending minimalist arrangements with a rough, intimate recording style. It combines elements of folk, indie rock, and experimental soundscapes, creating a space where imperfection becomes part of the story. The result is atmospheric, introspective, and evocative—offering moments of melancholy that are balanced with a quiet sense of hope.

I live in Vermont with my partner, Danielle, a singer, artist, and co-producer on This Isn’t How I Used To Be. She has been my rescuer and guide, helping me navigate the maze of confusion and fear that defined much of my life. With her help, I have begun to rebuild what was lost, and this work is a testament to her love, insights, strength, and guidance along my journey of healing, and rediscovery. Thank you, Danielle. Beyond all words. I love you.

Song List

• The King Think
• Something More Than Coffee
• Motherless Child
• If You Don’t Mind
• Never Made Me Lose
• Dance With Me Tonight
• This Isn’t How I Used To Be
• The Lifted Weight
• Who Are You?
• Flying With New Wings
• Convalescence
• Saving Me
• Prayer For Green
• That’s All That Matters To Me Now

Credits

All songs written, performed, and produced by Sabin Densmore, with these exceptions:

• Motherless Child is a traditional Civil War-era spiritual, arranged by Sabin Densmore
• This Isn’t How I Used To Be was co-produced by Sabin Densmore and Dani Victoria

Album cover photo credits: Dani Victoria

© & ℗ 2024 Sabin Densmore, all rights reserved.