I’ve told the story before, but I think all good tales happen in context. It’s fall of 2021 and I’m at a bar show with a friend to see a band he liked (specifically, Fox Royale). It’s cold out. The room isn’t super packed. I don’t know any of the artists playing, and sometimes that’s the best way to be.

I don’t remember where TREY was in the line up that night, but I can confidently say he made the biggest lasting impression of all of the acts, such that even though we had never even spoken until the past few months, we’ve been in contact across our own multiple interstate moves and changing creative projects.

Badlands. has been fascinating to me from the start – the appropriately-titled “A Reintroduction,” one of a few tracks which did not make it to the LP, saw Trey and new collaborator Steven Culebro shirk the studio-focused pop TREY had been known for in favor of a more rock-centric sound. And, as an insider, I’ve had the pleasure to see that track evolve over time.

But don’t think that Trey has forgotten his roots; this debut LP includes redone versions of two older tracks, “Oxygen” and “Child in the Desert”. There’s still plenty of pop, too, from the opening to the somewhat lyrically cringey number “GG” (a song whose reference to being stuck together with Gorilla Glue is surely not Trey’s deepest sentiment by any measure), and even heartbreaking measures like “Oxygen” still have commercial appeal.

The album follows Trey’s characteristic slice-of-life approach, and while it’s a concept album in some measure, the concept of slowing down and taking in life for what it is manifests in everything from battling addiction to navigating marriage to the death of family to searching for identity and purpose. “Oxygen” is particularly heartbreaking in light of TREY songs detailing growing up not knowing who his father is, and the chaotic backdrop of having no living parents in your 20s is certainly an incubator for all kinds of guilt, regret, and trauma.

Thankfully, this isn’t a bleak record. “I Think I Want You (All The Time)” shows relational fidelity in light of people who didn’t stick around. “Clearhead,” at least in part, speaks toward beating chemical dependence. Other tracks fill in gaps of the story, both looking forward and backward all the same. The result, quite simply, is an album which has been in the making for years now, and it’s the first album Trey has released to date under any moniker. Some of the magic admittedly is lost due to a long release cycle with limited new material on the record, but the new tracks all hit home and the full collection serves as a great entry point for new listeners. Check it out now wherever music can be found.