Sanctify - A 30-Year Reflection
30 years ago today, my mother died.
I began this track with a single word: “Sanctify.” The intent was to create a sonic memorial, to set a 30-year-old memory in its proper, hallowed place.
But a song is a collaboration, and when I brought the music to Louisa, her lyrics articulated something far more complex than a simple memorial. They articulated the present tense of loss.
Waiting for you Aching for you Waiting for you Yes, I still do.
This is not the sound of healing. It is the sound of time failing to do its prescribed job. It is the admission of a space that remains, and a wait that does not end.
The song is called “Sanctify,” but the lyrics force an interrogation of that concept. How can a memory be “sanctified” when the consequences of its creation are so brutal? Louisa’s words give voice to the unspoken paradox of grief—the schism between the sacred “holiest vow” and the profound, disorienting abandonment.
She crystalizes this conflict in a single, devastating question:
And did you reach for the heavens But pitch me to hell?
This is the question that sits at the center of the experience, the one that feels blasphemous to even form.
“Sanctify” is not a song of closure. It is an exploration of that divide. My music creates the atmosphere; her words hold the blade.
Thank you to Louisa for her unflinching honesty. Thank you for listening.
Cheers
Damian