Unveiling "Anything You Want"

I am proud. Since I started releasing music this year, thousands started listening to my music. It’s not only my parents anymore: I’ve gained listeners in countries I never lived in. Thank you for welcoming my music into the world. 💛 

Today, I am releasing my third single, "Anything You Want". This song certainly took the longest to complete of all the tracks on this record. As my wife Jessie likes to remind me, I have been playing early versions of the guitar riff since we started dating years ago. The seeds were first planted back in 2017 when I was recording with my former band—a melancholic minor key lick that I've been reshaping and evolving ever since.

Over the years, I've strived to expand my songwriting into more uplifting, major key territory. So I challenged myself to reimagine this lingering musical idea in a completely new light. I worked with several co-writers, having smaller breakthroughs here and there in figuring out the structure. But the full vision didn't click into place until 2021, when I was grappling with heavy themes around the human condition.

I had been obsessed with the dystopian sci-fi trilogy The Three-Body Problem and the film Don't Look Up, meditating on sobering existential questions. At the same time, I was grappling with the question of what it means to be a father, to take responsibility for bringing children into this uncertain world. Zoe was born in September 2021. I fell into a rather melancholic state, struggling to find something to hold onto.

Working with my coach, I arrived at the central message encoded in the lyrics—choosing to "be in but not of this world." From there, the many musical fragments coalesced into a bigger, more uplifting vision than I initially anticipated.

While the original concept was for a tighter, groovier Bahamas-inspired sound with just vocals and a small choir, we ended up expanding into a bigger sonic landscape with lush strings and horns. It's one of the grander compositions on the record, requiring meticulous pre-production planning to map out all the interlocking sections.

Interestingly, this is the only song using electronic beats instead of a live drum kit for certain segments. We also had to creatively rework a climactic bridge section that sounded too close to the Liquido hit "Narcotic" for comfort.

The title "Anything You Want" emerged from an earlier iteration framing the lyrics as an imagined conversation with my daughter. I had been reading Derek Sivers' book by that name and adopted it as a working title that stuck. There are little snippets like that woven throughout - like how the ending chorus melody makes me want to seamlessly transition into the Rusted Root classic "Send Me On My Way."

Staying in touch with the science fiction inspiration of this song, I followed the asteroid theme in creating the artwork.

I'm really proud of how this optimistic anthem came together after such an extensive gestation period. The “Anything You Want” journey reminds me that wonderful things can blossom, even during challenging times. It encourages me to continue to face struggles and work through them rather than shying away.

This song features the following musicians:

• Vocals & Acoustic Guitar: Julius Bachmann

• Electric Guitar: Tal Arditi

• Bass: Thanos Karakantas

• Drums: Rafat Muhammad

• Strings: Héloïse Lefebvre

• Horns: Johanns Böhmer (Trumpet), Leonie Freudenberger (Alto Saxophone), Markus Ehrlich (Tenor Saxophone), Friedrich Milz (Trombone)

Special thanks to Charis Karantzas (production) and Thanos Karakantas (arrangement).