To is a very short album for me. A typical EP consisting of only 5 tracks. However, practically each of them lasts over 10 minutes, but… who would care about that? I don’t think I’ll be proud of this work in the future, but I also don’t intend to be ashamed of it. It was a portrayal of truly sick times. It was like “musical journalism”, a report of experiencing the strangest historical event I’ve ever experienced.
The title says it all – an album created in 2020, about 2020. Since life likes to plan everything in its own way, its release was only possible in 2021. A lot of bad stuff was happening then, both in global and Polish politics, as well as in my personal life. I’m not alone in this. The quality of this album speaks volumes about the state I was in at that time. The pandemic years were a tragedy not only for me, so I hope this album will somehow help someone.
I probably don’t need to remind anyone how strange the year 2020 was. The pandemic turned many people’s lives upside down and was a real test of humanity. Unfortunately – it’s hard for me to say it was a test passed well. It was very easy to see how easily we can be divided between equals and less equals and how little human life means compared to procedures. I didn’t plan this album. It was simply a reaction to what was happening around me. I don’t even consider it particularly successful, especially considering the “Plaga koronawirusa”. These were reflections and observations from the first months of this circus. That’s all. No hidden meanings or motivations. I just had to vent.
Back then, I was glad to live in a rural area of Podlasie, far away from all the madness. I had a backyard where I could go out and breathe fresh air. A huge luxury in those times. I don’t know how I would have survived that period in my current small apartment. With a bit more peace, I could conduct my sociological observations in this strange circus on wheels called Twitter. The amount of venom increased at a geometric rate throughout the day, and activists were even more inclined to impose their delusions on others and use minorities as living shields and justifications for their hatred. “Wojowniku o sprawiedliwość społeczną” may not seem initially related to the pandemic theme, but it was the observation of people during that time that inspired me to write it. Similarly, “Codzienna dawka nienawiści”… My goodness! How absurdly these people behaved… how they insulted each other. The pandemic didn’t slow down human hostility; it seemed to only strengthen it.
Another topic that was close to my heart was the practical abandonment of the importance of mental health. Suddenly, it stopped mattering, and those who couldn’t cope were told to just die. At least that’s the impression I got from observing Polish social media. It’s sad because suddenly the slogan “Mental Health Matters” disappeared. The year 2020 was the breaking point for most people who had once gone through hell and then managed to pull themselves together. Comments about suicide were beyond criticism. That’s when it hit me that it will take many more years before psychiatric patients regain their human dignity. At least in the country by the Vistula River. “Matko Polsko” is my reproach to how people were treated in Poland. I compared Poland to an unfit mother who abandoned her children in need. How many people had their life’s work destroyed? How many generations had their youth sold to repay the handouts of PiS, compounded during the pandemic? How many people’s suffering was stripped of any meaning? I decided to scream it out.
The album is in a weak demo version and will be re-recorded as soon as possible.