Gaining momentum in the north Texas scene with radio play, best-of mentions, and buzz among the area’s new music evangelists, Berkley, the musical moniker of songwriter Andrew Jones, was poised to take the stage in clubs in support of three singles and his imminent full-length debut, Pueblo. As with all plans in 2020, his next steps were postponed.

Gaining momentum in the north Texas scene with radio play, best-of mentions, and buzz among the area’s new music evangelists, Berkley, the musical moniker of songwriter Andrew Jones, was poised to take the stage in clubs in support of three singles and his imminent full-length debut, Pueblo. As with all plans in 2020, his next steps were postponed.

After being tapped to engineer or produce a few emerging artists’ records, Berkley plotted a move to Portland, Oregon (with a fruitful layover in his hometown of Pueblo, Colorado). All said, opportunities and choices delayed any further material from Berkley - until now.

Finally settled in his new city, Berkley has re-emerged with album-ready mixes of the songs he used to test the Texas waters, a new track, “Email,” and a live recording from an intimate secret performance in his hometown.

All of this makes up Love Notes, a seven-track EP that gives fans something fresh, presents new listeners with a primer in Berkley so far, and that captures the artist live for the first time.

The title “Love Notes” sums up what’s kept Berkley going through the weirdness - this is more than a sentimental retrospective of feelings and scenes from his youth in Pueblo. Berkley is grappling with honest reevaluations of memories and happenings during those years.

In “Email,” Berkley explores reminders of the idealistic, if not naive, agreements made with a past lover. He quickly learns the way moving forward necessitates looking back, but only so far: “Cleaning up my life/blowing the dust off of some feelings/On my phone at night/finding what I thought I deleted/Old promises of youth no one had strength to be keeping/I wasn’t looking for the truth but can’t help but see it.”

It’s a common theme among the tracks on Love Notes - “Pueblo Nights” wonders what would be different if old friends didn’t grow apart, and if things had to change for everyone to grow up. “Oldies” flips through scenes from past relationships like a slideshow, wishing for what’s left of good memories to heal and for bad times to be forgotten. “Fiesta Day” reimagines the last conversation with someone close from the standpoint of one who lived through getting it wrong the first time.

As a preamble to Berkley’s debut full-length, Love Notes presents an artist swimming through time and space - at the end of a cross-country journey, facing the start of a new chapter, and in the midst of defining who he once was and may still be.