I actually wrote this email out longhand—both because I do take delight in writing and to ensure this doesn’t get unnecessarily long. These end of year messages do tend to get a bit… well, soppy.
So let’s get the most important bit out of the way: thank you!
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Your continued participation in this little community continues to humble and amaze us. I’m still wowed that this list has had an average open rate of 76% all year.
To put that in perspective: 18%-20% is generally considered “good”.
Not that we’re chasing after metrics. But it does tell us you care. Lest it not be said enough: your support means the world to us and really, truly, keeps our ramshackle enterprise going.
I was going to write a whole thing about this year, but honestly, right now I’m looking forward to our future.
“Somewhere To Be”, our next single, may be a few weeks away.
Apollo 6, a record we’ve put so much of ourselves into, is getting mastered next week.
Tomorrow (aka today for you) we’re working on some bonus material to accompany the record release in the spring.
Mostly, I’m looking forward to playing even more shows next year and communing with y’all in person.
Thanks again for your support, friendo.
Have a happy new year. We’ll see you on the other side.
Cheers,
Henry
P.S. I couldn’t not at least list some of the fun stuff from this year, so—here it is!
Dept. of New Music
- “The Comeback Kid”, the first single off Apollo 6, premiered on Buzzbands,LA! Watch the lyric video and share with your friends.
- …and btw, as a member of our list, you’re entitled to a free download of this song! Click this link and enter the code we emailed you to add “The Comeback Kid” to your Bandcamp library. (Shoot us an email if you lost your code!)
Dept. of Production
- Watch highlights from our final album session at Shabby Road
- The gang runs through a new song, “Meditation for the Housebound”, at HQ
Dept. of Live Events
- “The Comeback Kid” – live from the rooftops of Highland Park
- “Big Blue” – live from Harvard & Stone (courtesy of our friends at Buzzbands)
Dept. of Milestones & Extracurriculars
- Aloud turned 20 years old in May. We old now!
- “Broken Hearts” (from Exile) included on The Sympathy Card soundtrack
- After two years of work, we finished recording our sixth album: Apollo 6
- Watch Jen and Henry perform “Sweet Release” with our pal MAWD at The Cave
- The Aloud site gets a facelift and our store migrates to Bandcamp
Dept. of Long Lost Stuff
- Live from WMFO: December 10, 2003: We shared our very first performance with Ross on drums, recorded live for WMFO’s On The Town with Mikey Dee.
- Like a song that just left my brain: Listen to a found recording of “Refrain”, a song we played out live for a solid two years and inexplicably never did anything with. (Incidentally, we found more recordings from these sessions and are making plans to release more of these to y’all in 2023.)
- Hum along and regret it: listen to our live cover of The Sheila Divine’s “Hum”, live at Great Scott in Boston, December 2005.
