Album
Hope in Slow Motion
Album · 14 tracks · April 2025 · by Mike Baker
Fourteen indie songs honor the quiet work of surviving depression, anxiety, burnout, and disconnection one ordinary decision at a time.
The story
Hope in Slow Motion grew from being close to people I care about who were living through depression, anxiety, burnout, and disconnection. The album was not written as a record of one personal crisis. I wrote from the edge of experiences that belonged to people I loved, trying to make room for feelings they did not always have words for.
That position requires humility. Care does not make me the authority on another person's mind, diagnosis, or recovery. The songs are acts of attention shaped by what I witnessed and by the universal parts of exhaustion, fear, isolation, and hope that many people recognize. They avoid a dramatic rescue story because recovery often happens through private choices that look small from the outside.
Hope in Slow Motion opens with progress at a pace the person living it is able to sustain. I Got Out of Bed Today treats a basic act as meaningful when illness or despair has made the morning feel impossible. Soft Apocalypse describes an internal collapse that might remain invisible to everyone else.
She Said I'm Getting Better introduces the perspective of someone close enough to notice change before the narrator feels it. Fictional Versions of Me examines the identities people construct for work, relationships, social media, and self-protection. Made It Through the Morning returns to a shorter time horizon, where reaching noon deserves recognition.
Airplane Mode Hearts explores disconnection as both protection and loneliness. You Don't Need to Fix Me asks for companionship that respects agency. Support grows stronger when a person listens, stays, and asks what would help rather than taking control of someone else's recovery.
My Therapist Has a Plant Named Kevin uses humor to make the clinical room feel human. Sometimes I Just Breathe narrows the task to the body and the present moment. Echoes in My Algorithm moves the record into digital life, where past interests, fears, and identities return through systems designed to hold attention.
Messy & Alive accepts the unfinished state of being human. Relearning How to Feel recognizes that emotional range sometimes returns slowly after numbness or prolonged stress. A Better Life Is Coming closes with future possibility, while the rest of the album keeps that promise grounded in the work of today.
This page should serve listeners as well as describe the record. Someone who recognizes their own life in these songs deserves a clear path toward support. The music offers companionship. Crisis and clinical needs belong with trained people, trusted relationships, and accessible resources.
If any of this is where you are right now
These songs are not a substitute for help
I wrote this record about getting through hard days. It is not treatment, and it is not a replacement for talking to someone who is trained for this. If you are struggling, please reach out.
- 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline — in the US, call or text 988, or chat online. Free, confidential, 24/7. Text and chat are also available in Spanish, and there is a Deaf and Hard of Hearing option.
- If someone is in immediate danger — call 911, or go to the nearest emergency room.
Outside the US, the Find A Helpline directory lists free crisis lines by country.
If you only have a few minutes
Start here
01I Got Out of Bed Today
The song asks listeners to respect the scale of another person's effort, especially when an ordinary morning task has become a serious achievement.
02You Don't Need to Fix Me
Support becomes more useful when it protects the other person's agency and replaces unsolicited answers with presence, listening, and practical care.
03My Therapist Has a Plant Named Kevin
Humor gives the album breathing room and makes therapy feel like a human encounter rather than a symbol of failure or crisis.
04Relearning How to Feel
The later track recognizes emotional return as gradual work, giving recovery space to include numbness, uncertainty, and unfamiliar feeling.
Tracks
- 01Hope in Slow Motion
- 02I Got Out of Bed Today
- 03Soft Apocalypse
- 04She Said I'm Getting Better
- 05Fictional Versions of Me
- 06Made It Through the Morning
- 07Airplane Mode Hearts
- 08You Don't Need to Fix Me
- 09My Therapist Has a Plant Named Kevin
- 10Sometimes I Just Breathe
- 11Echoes in My Algorithm
- 12Messy & Alive
- 13Relearning How to Feel
- 14A Better Life Is Coming
Track by track
01Hope in Slow Motion
The opening song defines hope through gradual movement that respects the pace of the person doing the difficult work.
02I Got Out of Bed Today
A private morning victory receives the dignity it deserves when depression, fear, or exhaustion has made getting up feel overwhelming.
03Soft Apocalypse
An inner world feels as though it is ending while daily life continues around a person whose distress remains difficult to see.
04She Said I'm Getting Better
A trusted observer notices progress that the narrator has not yet learned to recognize from inside the experience.
05Fictional Versions of Me
The identities built for other people begin competing with the self underneath, creating distance between appearance and lived emotion.
06Made It Through the Morning
Recovery is measured within a few hours as the narrator honors survival without demanding a larger victory from the day.
07Airplane Mode Hearts
Disconnection offers temporary protection while also limiting the contact and care that might help two people feel less alone.
08You Don't Need to Fix Me
The narrator asks for respect, attention, and companionship while keeping ownership of the choices involved in healing.
09My Therapist Has a Plant Named Kevin
A small, funny detail brings warmth to therapy and reminds the listener that difficult conversations still happen in ordinary rooms.
10Sometimes I Just Breathe
The task becomes immediate and physical as the narrator returns attention to one breath and the next available moment.
11Echoes in My Algorithm
Digital systems return old interests and emotions to the screen, complicating the effort to grow beyond an earlier identity.
12Messy & Alive
Life remains unfinished and disordered, yet the narrator begins to value presence over the appearance of complete recovery.
13Relearning How to Feel
Emotion returns slowly after numbness, asking for patience with reactions that feel unfamiliar or difficult to trust.
14A Better Life Is Coming
The closer looks toward a fuller future while keeping hope connected to the small acts that made another day possible.
Where it leads
Hope in Slow Motion observed unseen effort in the lives of people Mike cared about. Three days later, The Loads of Life turned inward and traced his own experience of pressure, burnout, endurance, and eventual release across a four-song life.