Today singer songwriter Caspar Auwerkerken releases "The Pond", the third single from his upcoming debut album "Figuring Out My Horizons", set for release on February 27th on V2 Records. "The Pond" truly embodies the overarching themes of the record which are issues concerning climate change and the search for inner peace.
“The Pond” is one of the more personal songs on the album. It describes a spiritual experience within a natural environment — literally becoming ‘immaterial,’ yet at the same time feeling completely one with your surroundings. In this sense, Caspar refers to philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson’s concept of the ‘transparent eyeball’: the idea of fully merging with one’s environment. “The Pond” also alludes to Walden Pond and Henry David Thoreau’s classic book Walden, in which Thoreau describes living self-reliantly in a handmade cabin in the woods near the shore of Walden Pond. It's no coincidence that also Caspar writes his songs in the natural surroundings that inspire him most — at a fixed writing spot in a forest near his home.
The Pond forms a clear example of Caspar Auwerkerken's songwriting, where he draws inspiration from philosophy, visual art, and the natural world. A central theme concerns how humanity deals with climate change in a world that is becoming increasingly materialistic and detached.
"Tell them about the way it looked
And the way you smiled, as I’m figuring out my horizons
Give it time, and try"
The song also contains the words that form the title of the album. “Figuring Out My Horizons” can be understood in two different ways. On the one hand, it refers to finding one’s own place in the world: horizons confront us with what is still unknown, with that which lies beyond— a space of non-identity. Learning how to engage with this space of non-identity can guide us in finding our place in the world: only by recognizing what we are not can we begin to understand who we truly are. In that sense, it is a plea for openness toward the unknown.
On the other hand, the title can also be understood on a broader level: how is the Earth being reshaped in the era of the Anthropocene and climate change? And are there still places left unknown to a species obsessed with the idea of always wanting more? Horizons remind us that our planet is transforming and that its relationship with humankind is evolving in new and unprecedented ways.