Old Takoma resident Ned Russin, aka Glitterer, will release his sophomore album Life Is Not A Lesson this Friday, February 26, via the Los Angeles label ANTI- Records.
“The major theme in Life Is Not A Lesson is desire,” Russin explains in the album’s announcement. “Are You Sure?” is a song about certainty. My younger self was fascinated with and comfortable in assurances. I felt very sure I had the answers to a lot of questions. What am I doing with my life? What do I like? Who am I? My current self not so much. This song addresses the desires to find these answers while admittedly contradicting itself in the face of their questions, unsure if they’re even important to answer in the first place.”
In his native northeastern Pennsylvania Russin co-fronted punk outfit Title Fight, which got his start in 2003 when he was only 12 years old. The band went on hiatus, having played their last show in 2018, and Russin began work on Glitterer, releasing his debut album Looking Through The Shades in 2019.
The title track of Life Is Not A Lesson “came about halfway through the writing process,” Russin explained to Stereogum. “I borrowed the line from a recently-written-yet-unused lyric. It seemed like the sentiment in the song answered a lot of the questions that earlier songs had brought up, and the further along the album went it just felt right to title the album after this lyric and its solution. It summed up succinctly what I was trying to say all along: life is not a lesson to be learned.”
With his past in Title Fight and now with two Glitterer albums under his belt, Russin thinks that both projects’ output may be connected. “I think it comes from the normal insecurities and uncertainties of being a human being growing up in the millennial era and never feeling authentic, striving for an originality,” Russin said in a recent interview with The Washington Post’s Chris Richards. “Back then, it was about coming to terms with it and being sad. Now I’m trying to address why it’s that way, and move past it, or hopefully fix it in some way.”
While Looking Through The Shades was recorded and co-produced by Arthur Rizk (Code Orange, Power Trip), Life Is Not A Lesson was produced by Russin himself, with assistance from his twin brother and Title Fight bandmate, Ben. Pre-orders are available now.
Photo: Farrah Skeiky