I’ve been asked a version of this question a lot since I started posting again: what does the comeback look like?
The truthful answer is that I’m still inside it, which makes it hard to describe from the outside. But I’ll try.
The comeback looks like sitting in front of a recording setup at 11pm and not hating what I hear. That sounds small, but it’s not. For a long time I couldn’t listen to my own voice without immediately cataloguing everything wrong with it. Somewhere in the process of being away and coming back, I lost that particular reflex. I can hear myself now without the editorial layer of self-criticism. It’s the most useful thing that’s happened to me musically.
The comeback looks like being present on social media without performing presence. I post things because I want to connect, not because I’m building something that requires me to pretend I already have it figured out. When I was younger and recording as The Davis Fountain, I spent a lot of energy trying to look certain. The music is more interesting when I’m not.
The comeback looks like reintroducing myself as DeeDee Fountain — which is my name, not a rebrand. Just the version of the name that fits who I actually am now. Davis was how I moved through the world for a long time. DeeDee is who I’ve always been.
There is new music coming. I’m in the writing and recording phase, which is the part that takes the longest because I won’t let something out until it’s exactly what I heard in my head. Can’t Wait Until Dark is still out there, still streaming, and if you haven’t heard it, that’s the place to start — it’s the first chapter, and everything I’m making now is in conversation with it.
What does the comeback look like from here? It looks like this. Showing up. Making the thing. Trusting that the right ears will find it.
Thank you for being one of them.
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