Closing this Chapter

I had six songs left from the world that became my first era. They still had something to say, and I wanted you to hear them before I moved on.

Closing this Chapter gathers the last of those late-night conversations: wanting someone to mean it, letting them cast you as the villain, and mistaking a very persuasive body for a good argument. I was remarkably articulate about desire. Less so about what happened afterward.

“Kiss Me Like You Mean It” opens with a request that really shouldn’t require clarification. “Make Me Your Villain” lets someone else tell the story, badly. “Body Language.exe,” “Sins in Stereo,” and “Pretty Little Poison” belong to the part of the evening when your judgment becomes unusually flexible. By “Kiss Me in the Wreckage,” there’s very little left to pretend about.

On the cover, I’m looking back across an empty dance floor. The colors are still there, the dress still fits, but there’s light coming through the door.

I loved being this version of myself. I just don’t need to stay her forever.

Thank you for dancing with me. Take your favorite song with you.

— Carmen Caine