About the song: On the surface, “Skipping Seasons” is a straight-forward song about seasonal depression. Beneath that, it’s a song about coming of age while trapped in a rapidly changing world barrelling toward dystopia. The Sunstones bassist Julianne wrote the original version of “Skipping Seasons” three years ago, and as she’s grown from sophmore to senior, from solo artist to band leader, the song has grown with her. The song’s upbeat indie music contrasts hopeless lyrics, symbolic of how young people fight to remain optimistic despite a barrage of warnings that the future looks bleak. The Sunstones have been playing out for two years now, and their producer worked hard to make recordings that sound like the band does live. We want “Skipping Seasons” to feel real for our listeners, like you’re in the room with us, dancing off despair and making room for a bit of hope to break through.

Songwriter Julianne on “Scrutiny”: This song was born back in April of 2023 when Maddi invited Melody, Jaina, and I to her house for a writing retreat/sleepover. When we sat down to write lyrics, Maddi asked us questions such as “How do you view the future?” and “Do you feel like you’re becoming better people as you age?” You can see elements of these questions answered throughout the song. As objectively as possible, I think that the lyrics dig deep into young peoples’ minds: how we view ourselves, the world around us, and the future. We have hopes and dreams as well as fears and dreads. As stated in the chorus, “Sometimes you find the joy in it, sometimes you don’t.”

Mack’s notes on “Indigo Skies”: I could go on and on about how much I am in love with this song. Even though it’s only 2.5 minutes long, it’s my favorite on the record. The way Jaina’s vocals sound is almost comforting in a way, and I am so so proud of her. At first, I was a little iffy about the synth, but I really love it now and think it adds to the almost childlike and dreamy atmosphere of the song. As for the drums, I love them. This song sounds different than the other songs as far as drums go. I got to be a little more creative with it! And I LOVE the “no more butterflies” line where we all yell it together. It gives me chills everytime and really makes the song feel even more comforting. Cole’s solo on this song is phenomenal, and I think he did really well with keeping the chill vibe but put his own twist on it! Overall, this one is definitely my favorite Empty Pockets song.

Melody’s notes on “Wish You Were Okay”: I love this song so much. Julie did an amazing job with writing it. I love how she developed the bass line into a main melody. I honestly wanted her to sing it so band, but she wasn’t ready. So in honor of her, I tried to sing it how I thought she would, and I really like how the vocals came out. This song is so much funkier (in a good way). I didn’t have as much to do with writing this song, so I think I have my own interpretation of it. To me, it represents the feeling of being overburdened and held back and fantasizing about freeing yourself. Tension builds in the verses and releases in the choruses, waves rising and crashing. This one is definitely my favorite headbanger!

Mack’s notes on “Ignorance Is Bliss”: This song makes me feel things. I really love the intro where we’re all talking and Julie says that she can’t remember who she wrote the song about. It really shows that in the end (even if you write a song about it), things will pass.

Melody’s notes on “Ignorance Is Bliss”: When we were developing this song, I related a lot. I felt like life was just flying by me. I wanted to hide away like a child, to go back in time. I hated growing up – and still do – but I love that by the end of the song, we don’t want to hide away any more. The song represents that even if life is bad, it’s still worth living. Instead of being ignorant toward everything, choose to ignore your fear!

Maddi Mae here! To support these musicians, I decided to start up my own little indie label, Sound House Record Makers. Nestled within my existing music school and songwriting studio, SHRM serves as a platform to release some of the songs we make here together at Sound House. This is a new frontier for me, but I feel confident that we will learn as we go and build a boutique label that amplifies all the goodness that makes Sound House our musical home.