"Releasing" an album carries a multitude of meanings for me. The image that comes to mind today involves me standing barefoot, calf-deep in the Wenatchee River near our home, catching seeds of songs, nurturing them for a few years, and then releasing them to float downstream into the Columbia and then out to the Pacific Ocean.

Over the past 5 years, this particular batch of songs has served me in more ways than I can count. They've taught me a playful way of being with my inner 12-year old that gives him power and a voice. They've given me eyes to witness the Divine spark of life inside every being. They've given melody and language to honor the process of healing the earth holds for us.

These songs have assembled themselves in a 2-part 53-minute arc that illuminates the creative, masculine impulse of the Sun with Side A, and the nurturing, ancient feminine Wisdom of the Moon with Side B. The production kept pulling me more equally into pop territory, with its programmed dance beats and 80s-textured synths, than the songs themselves seemed to originally ask for — while keeping me steadily connected to folk music with the gentleness of a 50-ish year old nylon stringed Yamaha guitar that found its way into my life for $100 via Goodwill a few years ago.

Joining me on the record are a beautiful community of souls (listed below) that have been by my side as these songs have been shaping me. All of whom I am honored to call friends and family. To create with people you love is one of life's most potent gifts. Joining me energetically on the record is my wife and life partner, Joy. Today we celebrate our 27th wedding anniversary. Her consistent, whole-hearted support continues to sustain, teach and guide me.

Back to releasing at the river… Once these songs are released from my hands, they belong to you and they belong to the earth. The more turns around the sun I have and the more opportunities I have to do this work (this is record number 8 for me!) the more I see how the creative process itself heals and transforms us… this mystical yet dedicated rhythm of listening to the intuitive whispers inside us, and then responding with open and generous hands, brings us face to face with our joys and fears and loves, and becomes a pathway of becoming our True Selves.

Thank you for the gift of your witnessing the true Me. May the true You also be witnessed through these songs.

Behind your eyes, the stars are born,

Benjamin Jay Thomas

July 17, 2026

PS. - Though it should be on the streaming platforms in the next few days, it would mean the world to me if you would purchase and share the album on Bandcamp. Getting the record across the finish line required a few personal credit card charges and I'd love to pay those off. ;-) #realityofmakingrecords

And, if you're at all interested in learning how to play these songs and carry them yourself, over the next few months I'll be sharing chord charts and videos of me playing them in my Patreon community, so come join me over there.

More gratitude:

Side A ☀️

1. Sunrise (feat. BOSAYA & Shine Song Collective)

2. Is There A Life? (feat. Ms. Bright Sea)

3. Here With Me

4. A World Of Our Own

5. Come On, Time Machine

6. Echo Of The Sun (feat. Shine Song Collective & Carrie Wright)

Side B 🌙

7. Welcome Back (feat. Jenn Beauvais, Nora B. Heath & Targol)

8. The Joyful Eye Of God (Part I & II)

9. The Wisdom (feat. Mandy Hughes)

10. Heal Yourself, Heal The World (feat. Targol & Nora B. Heath)

11. It Starts With A Pause (feat. Cora Landgraf & Elliana Thomas)