“Now I have a new FOMO, which is FOMO of never having gone super deep on one thing,” he says. “In the end, I think I kind of went deep on two things and then they talked to each other, which I think is actually more interesting.”

The results are best captured on the song “Pale Blue Dot.” It starts with a blend of skeletal production and light chords that fit the singer-songwriter aesthetic. Around 90 seconds in, a crescendo falls and brings up the record’s energy. During our conversation, Lubalin came to a realization.

“It’s occurring to me that ‘Pale Blue Dot’ is the reason there are two sounds on the album,” he says. “Because I could not think, I could not consider for a moment trying to change that production to adapt it to the album, but it was also such a good song that I was like, I can’t cut it either. So I guess we’re going to make this work.” 

In addition to that track embodying the album’s core directive, it is also the song he is most proud of. “There’s been a handful of songs I’ve made throughout my career so far that I’m like ‘I don’t know where that came from and I don’t know how to do it again,” he says. 

Lubalin’s honesty as an artist has always been a massive part of his appeal; the  ability to capture a moment or a feeling of being pulled in the opposite direction. This consistent self-questioning also comes with a strong self-awareness. “I never want to assume I’m right,” he says. “If I’m ever having a braggadocious moment, then it’s always counterbalanced with some kind of sadness.”

“Something to Prove,” a song he started working on early and kept going back to, predates all of that. “As I was sifting through old demos I heard the old production,” he says. “I was like ‘Holy, this is so much better than everything I’ve ever done.’ So I was like, ‘Okay, let’s just go back to that.’ Sometimes that first instinct is the best thing, right?”

COVID brought on new experiences for everyone – instead of making bread from scratch or knitting, Lubalin learned to drive. As the sole writer, producer and mixer of all of his records, it’s an activity that helped him step back, stop being overly critical of himself and enjoy the album again.  

“Driving is a new thing for me. And so I was like, ‘You know, I’m gonna go for a drive. I’m gonna put these on my phone, and I’m just gonna listen to this tracklist.’ And that really opened my eyes to enjoying my songs again.”

Similar to his own experiences, driving around is the activity Lubalin says is the best fit for listening to haha no worries. He even says that those late-night drives through Montreal is what created the framework for the final sequencing of the album.

“That kind of inspired the flow. And it was really kind of like, ‘Oh, when this one comes after this one, I just catch myself singing it, whereas when it was here, I wasn’t.’ So some things were intuitive. Some things it was like, ‘oh, like, these songs are similar, so they should be grouped together.’” He continues, “It’s like, there’s this rational kind of categorization brain that is somewhat useful, but actually not as useful as the more intuitive kind of, like, what do I want to feel next?”

In a serendipitous way, some of the last creative additions on the project were to its last song, ‘Crystal Clear.’ A sonic dissident from the rest of the album, it takes an intentional step away from the conversation, leaving the listener ready for what is to come. 

“This might be like, where we go next. And I kind of like when an album, at the end, goes like it’s not done. It’s kind of a cliffhanger ending.”

Lubalin’s debut album, haha, no worries, is out Dec. 6 via Cult Nation | whereislubalin.net

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