The EP is available internationally on iTunes and Amazon!  You can also download it at Bandcamp, CD Baby, and other online music retailers.

Produced by John Mark Painter (Ben Folds, Sixpence None The Richer), the album features Bobby Huff (Tim Finn, Julian Lennon) on drums; JMP on bass, guitar, cello and horns; with guest appearances by Matt Slocum (Sixpence None The Richer).  The track listing is as follows:

1. In Them Hills
2. Cool Kids
3. Goodbye To Me
4. Home
5. Resolution

I have a new EP coming out next week on Valentine’s Day.  It’s called You Don’t Have the Heart.  As with each previous record release, I find myself soul-searching.  What are the truly important things in life?  Here are my thoughts as of this very moment:

IMPORTANT: Pedestrian Right of Way

I hold the pedestrian right of way to be an unalienable, nearly-constitutional right.  Had our forefathers foreseen moving vehicles sans horses, they would certainly have at least included this in the Bill of Rights.  I do not take the pedestrian right of way lightly, and as such, I often put myself in situations in which moving vehicles might hit me.  When the Don’t Walk light is illuminated, the driver takes priority.  When the Walk light is illuminated, I take priority.  I don’t care how fast they’re driving.  In the end, if they hit me, they will most likely go to prison for involuntary manslaughter, and I will be able to sue them for every penny they have.  Granted, I will most likely be dead.  Which is why in future weeks and months to come, I will be establishing a consortium of friends, willing to take up the cause of my untimely death.  I would like a portion of the settlement to go to certain charities, but the rest can be split up amongst the members of said consortium.

NOT IMPORTANT: My Debit Card

The other morning I had brunch at Peels NYC, a southern-style restaurant that serves biscuits and gravy and the like.  In case you were wondering, I had a delicious buttermilk biscuit with friend chicken and pepper jack cheese.  After paying, I accidentally left my debit card on the table.  I realized this several minutes (and several blocks) later, when my flatmate and I discussed stopping for ice cream.  I was faced with a very crucial decision:

1.) Walk back several blocks, secure my debit card, and then stop for ice cream; or

2.) Use this an excuse to return to Peels later in the week to try the buttermilk biscuit with country ham and pepper jack cheese – in the meantime, leaving my debit card open to consumer fraud.

The buttermilk biscuit with country ham and pepper jack cheese was delicious, just in case you were wondering.  And my debit card is safely back in my posession.  These are the moments when you feel the universe is finally  aligned in your favor.  Although, I wouldn’t be surprised if someone was just fraudulently using my identity to purchase a new car.  But that’s just how these things go.  All that matters in the end is how much you enjoyed the buttermilk biscuit with country ham and pepper jack cheese…

So, appropriately enough, this last free download is called Over And Done.  It’s about leaving a city, a situation, a relationship, etc.  Sometimes you just have to realize that whatever it is has run its course.  You don’t have to “burn it down” as I have been known to do; but you do have to move on.

If you’ve missed any of the free downloads, you can get all 52 songs at www.52freesongs.com.  Thanks again to everyone for listening this year!

Free Download #52 (Right-Click to Download)

Free Download #51 (Right-Click to Download)

I decided to channel the heartbreak I felt about the situation (and the primary concept of bird/nest) into a new song.  This might be my favorite of the new demos I’ve released this year as part of 52 Free Songs.  It really speaks to me for some reason.  I think it’s the inevitability of the situation.  As I say in the song, “it’s cold in between the sky and what’s beneath me now.”  Perhaps the worst part is really the free fall.

I hadn’t done an auto-tune song since 2005′s Dance Hall Dancer (a disco song soon to be re-released on a new compilation from my earlier EPs with Losing Summer), and I thought it could be used to a good (and quite mournful) effect here.

Free Download #50 (Right-Click to Download)

Holiday songs have long detailed what happens to good kids and bad kids at Christmas.  But what about kids who weren’t really good, but also weren’t really bad?  It’s the grey area of the holiday season, and I thought it was about time that someone addressed it.

Today is my friend Summer’s birthday, and she really likes Christmas music – so this one’s for her.  Happy Birthday Summer!!  So this means I don’t have to buy you an actual present, yeah?

Free Download #49 (Right-Click to Download)

I Fell Down

This song is about feeling trapped in a bad relationship.  You want to move on, and perhaps there’s someone else waiting for you somewhere – but you’re “snowed in”.  There’s a certain tenacity in having fallen down, but deciding that you’d rather stay down because the ground is somehow more appealing to you than the alternative.  My favorite sentiment in the song is, “I’m not trying to be a hero by any means, I’m just trying to leave.”  That always makes me smile for some reason.

Happy Holidays

This is actually the second song that I wrote for the Losing Summer project (the first being Mary Jane).  Our drummer at the time suggested that I write something upbeat with a holiday feel.  It was the middle of July.  But nonetheless, I went to work and came back with this song.  It’s a lovely, upbeat tune about the end of a relationship, and the refusal to carry any more baggage – even if it’s my own.

Merry Christmas Baby

This song concludes the unintentional trilogy of originals.  After feeling trapped, and then breaking free from a relationship – this song finds the protagonist alone at Christmas.  He’s somewhat free from the past, but still unable to move forward – he’s alone.  The song, while quite sad, is actually somewhat sweet in it’s heart.  Accepting his fate of loneliness at Christmas, our hero simply wishes for the one he loves to be with someone that she loves – knowing that it isn’t him.  At least that way, one of them would be with someone who cares.  A bit tragic, but then again, it is an “Adam Sullivan” Christmas original.  Click the link below to download the entire EP!!

And in the spirit of Christmas giving, check out my Kickstarter project.  I’ve been giving away tons of free music this year.  But now I need your help to put out some new music next year!!

Free Download #48 (Right-Click to Download)

But here’s the thing that’s always bothered me about “cries for help.” What if it’s not a cry for help? There’s only one alternative. Everyone likes to throw that term around to dismiss behavior they don’t approve of, or more often, behavior they simply don’t understand. Legitimate feelings are often ignored in the process. It’s a dangerous thing, really.

I wrote this song 7 years ago about a group of people who lived in a bubble. They couldn’t see beyond their self-serving ideologies and agendas. Perhaps they had good intentions, but you know where those lead. This song is for all of those who feel ignored, misunderstood, isolated, alone, invisible, and afraid. You are in very good company.

I made this recording in January 2005 under the name Losing Summer with my buddies Ira, Chris, and Ryan in a basement in Virginia. This is probably my favorite of the Losing Summer songs, although it will not be included on the upcoming Losing Summer reissues. This is the only place this song is or will be available for download.

Free Download #47 (Right-Click to Download)

Throughout this 52 Free Songs project, I’ve included a number of demos for songs that have been later released on an album.  This week’s download is kind of both.  It is my original demo for Quiet In The Cab, which was recorded in a matter of minutes.  The vocals were done in one or two takes at the most, and are quite raw as I had just finished writing the melodies.  As a result I used a ton of reverb, which I ended up liking quite a bit.

During the recording sessions for I Have Never Been Fond Of Falling From Heights (Swan Dive To The Atlantic), I kept pushing this song off to record later.  It just never seemed pressing to really work on it.  When we finally got down to it, we ended up deciding that it didn’t need to be recorded again. The reverb was removed during mixing, and so the album track does feel a little bit different – maybe a little bit more intimate.  In any case, the rawness and vulnerability of the original vocal are a perfect bookend to what is still my favorite of my own records.  And if I had to choose a favorite song of mine, this would probably have to be the one.

Free Download #46 (Right-Click to Download)

My favorite part of the song is when I lament not being able to be a vampire.  Because that was always a possibility!  To be clear, though, I wrote this in 2006 – far before the Twilight or True Blood crazes (amongst the bazillion other Anne Rice clones that have sprouted over the past few years).

This is a demo that I recorded with my buddy Ira (on drums) in his basement in Vermont.  There are no plans to ever produce the song for a record.  It will most likely just creep out each year in late October…

Free Download #44 (Right-Click to Download)

Free Download #43 (Right-Click to Download)

Rainy Morning In Amsterdam

A few years ago, I was walking through Vondelpark in Amsterdam.  I know it will come as a great shock to most of you to learn that it was a rainy morning.  A relationship that I had been in had ended several days previously, and I was feeling a bit melancholy about it all.  As I was walking, a funeral hearse passed by.  It was empty.  I decided to contrast my melancholy (“Did someone die for nothing?”) with the empty hearse (“Did no one die?”).  If you’ve not heard the album version of this tune, check it out.  There’s a gorgeous operatic vocal contribution from my friend Fleming McWilliams in the bridge.  That alone is worth $0.99.

This City

Everyone always says NYC is such a hard city to live in.  And I suppose for some, it is.  To me, that sort of thing is relative.  I had a friend here a few years back who was having difficulty coping with everything.  HIs girlfriend had just dumped him, he hated his job, etc.  So, I sat down and wrote this song about his situation, creating a commonality between his feelings for NYC and his feelings for his ex-girlfriend.  I tried to use as many cliches as I’d heard (NYC will eat you alive, NYC never sleeps, etc.).  In the end, I really couldn’t relate.  So, while the verses are about my friend, the choruses describe my process in writing the song.  The lyrics were just words to me (“I don’t know what this all means”), words I couldn’t relate to (“I just know it’s not for me”).

Free Download #42a (Rainy) and Free Download #42b (City) (Right-Click to Download)

This is a demo of a song that I’ve recorded for release later next year.

Free Download #41 (Right-Click to Download)

The first verse of the song deals with being crazy.  It’s a chicken/egg situation.  Which comes first?  Does being alone for so long drive you crazy?  Or does being alone for so long give you the clarity to realize that you were already a bit mad?

The second verse of the song deals with hindsight.  We always think we have everything figured out.  But we rarely do.  Being stranded with your thoughts and memories can give you the perspective to realize that.

The third verse of the song deals with coming to grips with isolation.  ”Nothing like being alone to find out you don’t need anyone.”  But it’s nothing more than a mantra.  Something to make yourself believe that you’re okay with being alone.  But you’re not.  You do need someone.  ”You need someone like you.”  I wrote this lyric with a double-meaning.  It can be directed towards someone specific.  Or as I prefer, it can be directed towards yourself.  Many of us struggle with feeling misunderstood.  After spending so much time alone, it’s imperative to be able to talk and communicate with someone who understands you.  

I wrote the bridge of the song two weeks later in Reykjavik, Iceland.  I was accidentally in town for the 2009 Reykjavik International Film Festival, and was walking to a screening when it came to me – “It’s always been you, cause it’s never been you, all along.”  This lyric means a lot of things to me.  But I think the real heart of it is in unrequited love.  We all want what we can’t have.  That pursuit of something unrequited often leaves us alone – alone to discover how crazy we are, how little we knew about anything before, and how much we need someone like us.

The album version of this song (found on The Room Is Spinning Faster) is available for free at a variety of locations, including the 5-song sampler at NoiseTrade.com, so I’m posting the original piano/vocal demo here.  Recorded in my buddy Ira’s dining room, it’s quite stripped down, and a bit more raw, which I like – although, my background vocal pitch is a bit distracting.  Sorry about that!  I never spend much time on demo vocals as they’re just going to be redone later.  Typically, they’re a one-take deal.

Free Download #40 (Right-Click to Download)

I wrote this song exactly a year ago today, while walking the streets of Istanbul, Turkey.  While I made note of the lyrics in my phone, I had no practical way to record it (I’ve had mixed experiences with voice memos), and I did not want to forget the tune or meter.  So, I basically sang the song non-stop the entire day.  I sang the song in The Basilica Cistern.  I sang the song in Aya Sophia.  I even sang the song while wandering through the imperial harem of Topkapi Palace (which is now, sadly, filled with jewels and other treasures of the era).  

For those who may be unfamiliar with the story of St. Stephen, he was martyred for his faith in the year 35 A.D.  Those who martyred him did so by stoning him to death.  Thus, he has been known as the patron saint of stonemasons and the patron saint of headache sufferers.  It is told that while being martyred, he prayed for the forgiveness of those who stoned him.  Thus, he is also known as one of the patron saints of forgiveness.  

I wrote this song about someone that I had hurt; non-intentionally, but nonetheless there was a seemingly impassable divide there.  I feel like a lot of songs about forgiveness are actually quite self-centered.  Come back to ME.  Please forgive ME.  I can’t make it without you, etc., etc.  With this song, I wanted to open myself up and take accountability for my mistakes – for who I had become as a person.  Further, I wanted the focus to be on the one I had hurt, and her happiness.  I feel like it’s so natural to ask for forgiveness, because if granted, that forgiveness will bring absolution and closure – but often this closure is limited to the one being forgiven.  It isn’t as natural to be the one having to forgive, particularly when your heart has been broken.  Thus, while I needed her forgiveness and I needed her healing, I make it absolutely clear that what I really needed – above all – was for her to love again; not necessarily love me again, but just love again.  The song ends metaphorically, with me giving myself, and my happiness, up for her.  

Aside from the obviously very personal nature of the song, the true vulnerability for me comes in the form of the recording itself.  After arriving back at my room following the day’s excursion, I sang the song into my computer – without any instruments (I had none with me) – so that I wouldn’t forget it for the remainder of my travels.  For someone who’s never been entirely comfortable with being a singer, hearing nothing but my vocal is a terrifying thing.  That said, the nakedness of this demo will always speak volumes that the official recording (complete with piano, guitar, horns, harmonium, etc.) probably never will.

Free Download #39 (Right-Click to Download)

Confirmed dates:

10/3 – Hongdae, Seoul – Club Freebird
10/7 – Hongdae, Seoul – Strange Fruit
10/8 – Hongdae, Seoul – Club Bbang

More shows will be announced soon! See the Shows page for additional details.

Many (most?) of the songs on the [Fond Of Falling] record are quite sad or somber.  Galway Army is actually one of the lighter points.  I was in Galway – I suppose that comes as no surprise given the title of the song.  It was late November and quite cold out.  After dinner, a group of us settled in a pub on a quiet street in the north part of town.  About 1:30am or so, I decided to head back to the hostel where the lot of us were staying.  One of the girls in our group (a Kiwi) decided she was tired too and left to walk back with me.  So there we were, the two of us arm in arm, half-walking, half-skipping back to the hostel.  As we made our way down through Eyre Square, I thought to myself that we were like soldiers in an army – you know, the way we were almost marching.  After a bit, we reached Merchants Road, where our hostel was located.  

Now, it is important that I tell you about our hostel, as it is key to understanding the next part of the story.  The hostel was big – huge even.  It was a grey stone building, located on the corner of Merchants Road and Queen Street.  You can’t miss it.  The rooms (numbered only in the 100′s) are several floors up in the building, so there’s an elevator for convenience.  

So, my Kiwi friend and I arrive on Merchants Road, and spot our hostel about half-way down the block (you see where this is going).  Upon entering the yellow building, we commented to each other on how small it was, and that it had a particular stuffy smell.  We stumbled up the steps, still arm in arm (to say that we walked or even climbed would be sorely inaccurate), to the first floor of rooms and began searching for our room (#105).  Room 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.  I commented that it was going to take forever to get to 105.  After another few minutes of searching, it finally occurred to us that we were in the wrong hostel.  I immediately burst out in hysterical laughter, while my friend immediately covered my mouth and told me to be quiet.  Then she burst out in laughter, while I told her to be quiet.  It seems like that went on and on for hours.  It was probably only 20 seconds or so.  We left the wrong hostel, and – I’m still not sure how – recognized the correct hostel.  We were quite tired and both went right to sleep.  In the morning, we had the funniest story to tell everyone.  

To be honest, I fancied the girl a bit – as much as you can fancy someone you’ve just known for several days.  On a related note, she is the girl who asked me to help her pick out sunglasses and who requested that I sing Sweet Caroline at a karaoke pub (see Neil Diamond).

Free Download #38 (Right-Click to Download)

Recording demos is a fickle thing for me. Sometimes I go through the trouble of really producing them and adding a bunch of stuff. Other times (such as this one), I go really minimal – a few vocals, guitars, maybe a humdrum beat to play/sing along to. This is a song off of a new EP called Your Shadow and Everything in Between that will be released in July 2012. The official recording sounds quite different…

Free Download #37 (Right-Click to Download)