13

Thirteen—a number deemed unlucky, the subject of countless theories, a figure feared by many. Yet for me, it sits at the very heart of life, a symbol of that most tender age when my heart beat with a rhythm all its own. As one steps across the threshold from childhood into youth, precisely at the age of thirteen, the world suddenly appears far more raw and filterless. The growing pains within you clash fiercely for the very first time with the clamour of the outside world.

In naming my album after this number, I wanted to pay homage to the innocence of being thirteen, to those first heartaches, and to the desire to face life with the unvarnished honesty of that age. The supposed bad luck of numbers is merely a way for people to project their own fears; in truth, the residue left within us by each number, each age, is entirely unique. I still strive to carry that pure, uncorrupted rhythm of my thirteen-year-old heart within my music today.