I started writing these lyrics about bad timing as a ballad. But found too much optimism in them to slow it down. more

"just friends" is going to be released on Sept 18, 2026. It is another add on to my unreleased album, "the story of you and i" This single has been written and waiting to be completed for a long time now, and I can proudly say its creation healed a part of me. Just friends is about having that one friendship you swear is strictly business, but the looks...and even the hugs say otherwise. The entire world is set on this unspoken love coming to light. Nothing about the lyric "friends with benefits" has to do with what people assume, the benefit is the emotional support and clear love between people. If you stay tuned for the album release which will happen late 2026 or early 2027, you'll get to hear how this story actually plays out. These two unexpected friends move to something more, before life takes a turn and reminds us all we can't take what we have for granted. Please help support BLOOM&EMBER and follow on Spotify so it can grow <3 If you've read this far, thank you for choosing to care about this thing so important to me!more

I know this is a day late. I wanted the 1st time I shared it publicly on my most active social accounts tied to the anniversary it was created for, which put me in a ridiculous time crunch... because every time I thought I was done, I saw 1 more thing that could make it better. Ironically, THAT’s why it is not perfect. • Twenty-Five Later started as a poem about the part of “Never Forget” that I think gets lost. • The people killed on 9/11 were strangers to the people who hated them. They were reduced to what someone else had taught those attackers they represented. That idea kept bothering me because 25 years later, we still let other people hand us labels, enemies, fears, and beliefs we may never stop to question for ourselves. • That contradiction became this song. • If this message makes you think of someone, please share it with them. Not to prove a point. Not to win an argument. Not to shame them. • Share it because somewhere along the way, too many of us got comfortable letting fear, anger, headlines, politics, algorithms, and other people decide who we should distrust or hate. • Nearly 3,000 people lost their lives on 9/11. If “Never Forget” is going to mean anything beyond remembering the day they died, then maybe part of honoring them is making damn sure we don’t keep handing that same kind of hatred to the next generation. • If there is anyone in your life who needs to hear that, please let this message reach them. • The lyric video is on my HyperFollow below: https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/bandurkagifts/twenty-five-later ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ LYRICS ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ The morning was moving like any before Then one breaking image came through every door A voice on the phone, a screen filled with smoke And somewhere inside us, the normal had broke • We waited for answers that nobody knew One plane became two, and the fear only grew Who else was in danger, what waited ahead As the next breaking headline counts more of the dead • Twenty-five later, we honor the date Still lower the flags, and remember their fate But if “Never Forget” was a lesson to stay Then why do we still let our hate lead the way? • We learned every name, every number, and place Remember the towers, the smoke, and each face But if all we preserved was the grief from that day Then we failed each lesson their loss should convey • We learned how fast fear can turn into blame How anger can spread while we feed it a name We saw what division can cost when it grows Still somehow we chose not to learn what it shows • Twenty-five later, we honor the date Still lower the flags, and remember their fate But if “Never Forget” was a lesson to stay Then why do we still give our own minds away? • If hate lit the fuse that destroyed lives that day Then hate cannot be what we carry away We failed when remembrance got tangled with blame When we let someone else decide who to shame • “Never Forget” was supposed to mean more Than names on a wall and a date we restore It should have taught us what hatred can do But twenty-five later, we still feed it too • Twenty-five later, we honor the date Still lower the flags, and remember their fate But “Never Forget” should have changed how we live Not just how we mourn, but the hatred we give • We got too complacent. Gave our minds away Let headlines and slogans tell us what to say We traded our judgment for voices on screens Then called it conviction while living fake dreams • We got weak in the places that needed a spine Too lazy to question who shaped every line If “Never Forget” means a damn thing today Then take back the power that we gave away • Twenty-five later, we honor the date Still lower the flags, and remember their fate If 9/11 showed what hate became Then “Never Forget” means we don’t do the same • This was a pretty impromptu project, and AI was 1 of the tools I pulled from my creative toolbox while putting it together.more