Last Minute Lifestyle

It's a quiet morning compared to the buzz of yesterday's adventure, a sweet memory that I've already tucked away for safe keeping. If you missed out, no worries, this post has you covered.

It’s with great anticipation that I get to announce that “Therapy”, my newest single, has finally been released!

This has been such an incredible opportunity to share an entirely new direction, complete with an onset of shows, press blips, and many more surprises around the corner.

I am so incredibly grateful for those who have been there since the days of “Kristen Bennett Music”. That being said, if this is the first time you’ve set eyes on a post by “Kristen Bales”, I would like to extend a warm welcome. I hope you enjoy the ride.

Life has its own way of flipping a switch at the very last second, while we remain unaware, lost in between what was and what could be.

It gives you a cautionary, “be on your guard” that keeps you up until 3AM, anxiously awaiting something to go wrong.

It gives us the “please hold” while we wait deadpan on the other line.

This past Saturday I waited up until midnight for “Therapy” to appear on Spotify, like a little kid obsessively awaiting the thrill of Christmas morning.

I literally stared into the aura of a tiny glowing screen (it feels a little vain now that I think about it) until 12:00AM, February 11th, 2018.

I pulled up the track in a matter of seconds, still doubting its very existence until it finally materialized when I hit "play".

My skeptical, Type A tendencies pushed me to make a mandatory check of the artist name, songwriter credits, and album artwork to make sure everything was satisfactory.

Perhaps it was an innate sense that nothing could be perfect or a wariness gathered from past experience, (the last time I released a few tunes on Spotify my "similar artists" were listed as Hilary Clinton, Mitt Romney, and Donald Trump...exactly how a Christmas album could carry waves of political tension is beyond me), but I couldn't resist checking twice.

It was after the fact that I had to do yet another double take.

There was “Therapy”, complete with fantastic album art captured by the lovely Ashley Schwartz Photo, and the track in all of it’s groovy deliciousness.

However, something was wrong--and not merely a blunder, but rather, an awkward, ginormous elephant in the room: my music had been listed underneath the incorrect artist.

Due to “Kristen” being an oversaturated artist name (which I wasn’t even remotely aware of until this all went down), my single was sent in for distribution with noncomplying metadata.

Until about 1:00am in the morning I sent numerous e-mails, live chat conversations, and left voicemails for my distributor in an attempt to sort out the predicament as soon as possible. After receiving no response with the exception an automated message, I realized my concerns were not going to be met in time. More or less, I felt a bit defeated: the single was released, but not even under my name.

Here I am around 24 hours later, still facing this predicament head on. However difficult, this situation didn’t dissuade from releasing my single on time.

First and foremost, I wanted you to hear the single, despite the repercussions.

So, I’ll leave you with this:

Expect the unexpected, and learn to welcome it.

Life happens, the majority of the time it remains spontaneous. The only variable we can control is a reaction. Meet spontaneity where it is--even if you find peace in whisper.

It doesn’t matter what speed you’re going, move forward.

If you dwell on something long enough, it will slow you down. A listless spirit breeds oversleeping, sluggishly retreating inside of your apartment, and a refusal to acknowledge the world around you.

Depression is despicable, a sinkhole of distraction and dreariness that's tempting to resort to.

Every step is a step forward—that’s what “Therapy” is all about.

Mistakes are proof that you’re trying.

The more effort you pour into whatever you've been working towards, the more mistakes you will endure.

You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending. – C.S. Lewis