Haunted
Words Whispered in the Dark
An honest look at grief and suffering
-
My name is Frances Twomey, and the last 2.5 years of my life have been one long and difficult season of grief. I think we all have had moments where we say something to ourselves that we could never say out loud. The things we silently scream - the words whispered into the dark.
When faced with comfort or encouragement from well-meaning people, I have said what is expected of me to say, not what I have experienced or what I really feel. Over and over again during this season, I have said to myself: Am I allowed to think this? People will think I’m losing it. Can I say that? Out loud? To another human? Am I a heretic? Oh God, I am a heretic.
This tension is the heart of this project - Haunted. It’s the thoughts, songs, and conversations from the middle of my worst days. Those things I dared not say aloud, I have written down. I have said them out loud. Haunted is the result of the season that I have spent in the crosshairs of grief, caught between the expectations of others and the reality of suffering. It is about the poorly chosen words of others, the placating Christian sentiments that reveal just how uncomfortable we are with brokenness; it shows us that something is missing from the way that we deal with grief, as both humans and especially as people of Christ.
During this process, the more conversations I had about hard times and trials, the more I came to understand the role that grief plays in our existence and the role grief plays in our faith. When I started playing these songs, people were identifying with a line or phrase - this is everything I have felt but haven’t been able to put into words. The hard and scary, the questionable and heretical, the profane and the unfiltered, the hopeful and expectant.
You probably won’t sing these songs in church. They won’t be on your “Spotify wrapped.” Unless I reach my fundraising goal, I will probably lose money on this project, but it feels too important to not share. I think that if we truly want to see a change in the way that grief, trauma, and suffering is handled, we have to be willing to talk about it and sing songs about it and tell stories about it.
-
Why crowdfund this project?
The reality for many musicians and artists today is that it costs a lot of money to make art. So many people consume art without understanding the blood, sweat, and dollars that went into it. When you listen to a song on Spotify, we don't make a dime until it's been streamed over 1000 times - and once that happens, we get a 100th of a cent for each listen.
If you choose to donate to this project, I won’t keep a cent of the money. It will go to the people who have helped me create this really difficult project. It will go to the studio and producer, the sound engineer and the instrumentalists and singers; it goes to the photographers and videographers, and so many more.
If every one of my friends donated $10 we could fully fund this project. And because your $5 or $50 or $100 donation goes so much farther than Spotify’s .01 cent, if you give any amount, you will receive a link to download the album when it is finished.
If you’ve experienced seasons of darkness and struggle and feel inspired to help tell more stories like yours, I invite you to donate.
If you love honest music, if you are curious about my story, or if you just love me, please donate.
If you are in the middle of hell and want to feel less alone, less crazy, Haunted is for you.
Until then, if you want a tangible or physical thing I will have some merch items that you purchase. My writing and videos will also slowly be released leading up to the album’s completion.