Premeditatio Malorum

Premeditatio Malorum is a spoken-word meditation album for people who find traditional morning affirmations unbearably optimistic.

Rooted in Stoic thought, defensive pessimism, and pessimistic realism, the album begins from a simple premise: life will be inconvenient, people will be irrational, plans will fail, bodies will hurt, emails will multiply, and gratitude will often be absent. Rather than pretending otherwise, these meditations rehearse disappointment in advance.

Across twelve tracks, the album moves from blunt diagnosis to practical preparation. Expectations are lowered. Boundaries are strengthened. Irrationality is anticipated. Control is separated from illusion. The goal is not despair, but resilience: if we expect less from the day, we may be less shocked by its failures and more able to notice the rare moments when reality exceeds expectations.

Musically, the album pairs spoken-word meditations with dark, restrained, slightly dissonant arrangements that gradually soften as the tracks progress. The final message is not that life will be good.

It probably will not.

But someone may be kind. Something may work. A plan may survive. Someone may even say thank you.

Set the baseline at zero.

Everything above that is profit.