Why Majical Cloudz Wanted To Make Optimistic, Active Music For Their Fans

"We're actually touring a bit less than we did the first time around for the sake of staying healthy and staying relaxed," he says. "It's nice to just have a routine at home to feel connected to, and I kind of feel like touring is a temporary departure from that rather than touring becoming like a lifestyle."

"I became more interested in making music that was more optimistic or that reached out to the listener in a way that was a bit more active."

Where the candid and introspective power of Impersonator was its biggest drawcard, Are You Alone?'s mutterings and musings, while less intense than the former, still make the same impact despite Welsh admitting he reined in the almost suffocating intimacy of the lyrics for their latest. One reviewer described it as so sincere and earnest that it's disconcerting, which to Welsh is mission accomplished — but he's a firm believer that one can alienate listeners with too much confessional writing. 

"I think when we made Impersonator there was definitely an aspect to it that was confessional," he explains. "I think the first record there was an aspect of it being more personal and it was about getting all these thoughts out there. When I was making this second record and writing the songs, it wasn't so much confessional as sort of trying to write music that would project certain themes and emotional states."

"I think there's only so much that a person can do in terms of confessional music. There's only so far you can go with the idea that music is just supposed to be about purging yourself. It starts to feel a little bit introverted and closed off. I became more interested in making music that was more optimistic or that reached out to the listener in a way that was a bit more active."

The less confessional approach even applies to Welsh's thoughts on the album itself; while some artists feel the need to explain a piece of work, Welsh doesn't for Are You Alone?, because he feels that the album explains itself sufficiently enough.

"I have less to say about it," he admits. "There's less of a narrative that is as important to me that is not just in the music itself, whereas on Impersonator there was a story that I wanted to tell that helped to explain the music. This time around the music was a more intuitive process and the intentions of it are just kind of embedded in the songs themselves. I can let the music just do what it's supposed to be doing."