Aaron Semer - Cape Disappointment (2019)

Cape Disappointment took shape from a literal woodshedding experience Aaron Semer had in January 2017 during an artist residency at the Sou’Wester in Seaview, WA. “The majority of these songs were written there, in a vintage trailer home,” he says. “It was cold and drafty. Donald Trump was about to take office. Daily, I would take walks on the beach or drive to nearby points of interest. One of those places was Cape Disappointment, at the southern tip of the Long Beach Peninsula, where the Columbia River meets the Pacific Ocean. It’s crazy tumultuous and is nicknamed ‘the graveyard of the Pacific’ for the number of shipwrecks it’s caused. Lewis and Clark first reached the Pacific Ocean at Cape Disappointment, only to realize they couldn’t get to it in their canoes because the currents were so insane. They were stuck. I consider this album to be my ‘midlife crisis’ album, and Cape Disappointment seemed the perfect metaphor. It’s not that life is disappointing – I’ve done a lot of wonderful things with my life – it’s that sweet sorrow of knowing you’re halfway through. You’ve come all this way, done all these things, and for what? That’s what Cape Disappointment means to me.”