Liner Notes #16: The Memory Hunters Cover Reveal
If I do the math, The Memory Hunters has been with me in one form or another for nine years. For seven of those years, it was beast of a manuscript hovering outside my door, the thing that I knew was too big for me yet I wrote anyway.
I always go for the challenge. I’m no good at being satisfied. In music, you can use solfège (fixed or movable), note names, or numbers to sing—so I’ve decided I’m going to sing my numbers in French and be as easy and fluent in that system as I would be in English or Mandarin. (It’s a bit tougher than I anticipated considering I get asked to change keys on the fly and therefore the entire number system must change.) In writing, I look to push myself. And that was The Memory Hunters.
I held off writing a draft of The Memory Hunters until 2018 or 2019 though the idea of it was sparked in 2016. That’s when it shows up in my notebook, anyway. I waited because I knew I wasn’t ready for it, and in truth, I might still not be ready for it, but the only way out is through for book two. Somehow, through all the years I’ve been with Key, Vale, Jing, Cal, Burdock, and Genevieve, they’re finally set to arrive on July 29, 2025.
Here’s the cover, revealed today at Paste (with a very kind write-up, might I add), and the first chapter in its final format glory. https://www.pastemagazine.com/books/mia-tsai/exclusive-cover-reveal-excerpt-mia-tsais-the-memory-hunters
My thanks go out to my artist, my art team, and my editor, who spearheaded the entire effort to make sure the cover would have exactly the right vibe.
January has felt like a thousand days. Though we’re halfway through February already, it’s probably January 44 in reality. But things are moving, whether we like it or not. I’ll have some more news about an exclusive book plate for preorders through Charis Books & More in a later newsletter, as well as book tour—related stuff. Oh yeah, I’m not going to be at Interlochen anymore, so that frees up time for me to do book publicity!
During the endless days of January, I’ve been anchoring my family and pestering electeds and supporting abortion funds and writing proposals for Giganotosaurus. Music has been keeping afloat, helping me unplug and recenter myself. Not just at the keyboard, where I’ve brought back an old Haydn sonata and have been tasked with composing again, but on the stereo, through LPs and CDs. Physical media is back, baby.
Here’s what I’ve been listening to:
L’arc~en~Ciel’s Dune, Tierra, Heavenly, heart, ark, ray, and half of Real. L’arc occupied an outsized part of my teenage years. I wanted to listen back to see if my nostalgia held up. I’ve considered doing a pop-up newsletter just for reviewing each album in depth. My opinions of these albums have already changed. And, best of all, I have these all on CD, so I listened to them in the highest fidelity I had available. (Spotify’s quality is trash. We should all move away from Spotify and onto places like Bandcamp, anyway. Easier said than done, though.)
Hanumankind, “Big Dawgs” and “Ayyayyo” (Parimal Shais feat. Hanumankind). There was a stretch of a few weeks where I could not escape the opening of “Big Dawgs” thanks to the Adidas commercial where it’s featured. I was curious about this young rapper’s flow, so I took a listen. I see what everyone has glommed on to. But for me, “Ayyayyo” is more compelling, not just because I think musically it’s better, but because Hanumankind raps in English and Malayalam and that flow is fabulous.
- https://youtu.be/hOHKltAiKXQ?si=XwcDQmRI1NkT_7cC
- https://youtu.be/5LGfP-BSJ8M?si=djmT8lXTVOK5Kx2T
Muse, Origin of Symmetry. More nostalgia stuff, I guess. The last time the orange man assumed the presidency, I listened to a lot of punk, plus every single resistance song Muse had. For a long time I thought Absolution was their best album, but I’m going to change my mind and go with Origin of Symmetry. Which, by the way, sounds very good on vinyl.
Linkin Park, Hybrid Theory and From Zero. In my defense, which I don’t need because I adored Linkin Park when I was in high school, I now have a high schooler whose very high school and teenaged emotions lend themselves perfectly to the band. My kid now understands the memes that have come out of this album and is well on their way to being a Linkin Park fan, themself. Hybrid Theory holds up. RIP Chester Bennington. The new singer, Emily Armstrong, is a worthy successor, drama surrounding her notwithstanding. Both kids have added “The Emptiness Machine” to their playlists. It’s very catchy.
Kendrick Lamar, GNX. Before the pandemic, I was a regular at Ebrik Coffee, where Jonathan, one of the baristas there, worked on Friday mornings. He and his coworker, Andrew, are musicians as well, so our Friday morning conversations were always wonderful. At one point, I admitted that I’m not much of an album listener. I’ll listen to an album front to back the first time I encounter it, and then I’ll pull the tracks I like the most and listen to those in a playlist, mixtape, or mix CD, you know, like we used to do. Aghast at my indifference to art and statement, Jonathan exhorted me to listen to Kendrick’s To Pimp a Butterfly and come back. I did, and I totally understand why he chose that album specifically.
To Pimp a Butterfly is a masterpiece, full stop. But there was a sense that I was listening to an Artist on a Mission (which, to be fair, makes up a lot of Kendrick’s oeuvre). GNX is Kendrick all shined up and ready to be himself as an executive. And while I’m not a fan of successful artists transforming themselves into moguls, GNX is undeniably danceable and marketable even when Kendrick is calling everyone out. Is GNX better than Pimp? I’m not sure. Topping Pimp is extremely difficult. Will GNX find a place in my rotation the way DAMN. did and Pimp didn’t? Yes, it will.
That’s it from me. See you on the B-side.