Geoff Lussier did what he set out to do. The Glastonbury native and current Los Angeles resident recently completed a solo musical project documenting his growth and journey in the City of Angels. “The project itself is called “The Heightening” - like the heightening of senses - and it has two parts: an album that comes out in the spring [of 2022] and a short film in the summer [of 2022],” explained Lussier, who graduated from Glastonbury High School in 2013. “The album is 100 percent written, produced and edited by me. I play every instrument and sing every word. And the short film was written and directed by me; I shot it and I star in it.”

“It’s a lot of me, I guess,” Lussier added with a laugh, “but I wanted to see if I could do it all.” The project focuses on Lussier’s growth since the last time he made anything - which was a musical project he edited and produced in 2017 that featured local singers - and coming to LA. Regarding the ladder, the project contemplates whether the move was worth it, “and just those struggles of trying to figure out what I want to get out of this,” said Lussier.

“Asking myself those questions was sort of the goal,” he added. “Not even necessarily to get answers but just to sort of ask myself them.” Lussier described the album as pop, but added “Each song is sort of its own thing… I wanted to start from scratch with each song.”

As for how easy it was - or wasn’t - for Lussier to complete this project on his own, “It was so much harder than I thought it would be,” he explained. “I moved out here thinking I was going to meet all the people I need to meet to help me make this easier, but I moved out just shy of a year before Covid, so I didn’t get the time to really find people,” he explained. “Covid forced me to just be like, ‘screw it, I’m going to do this thing on my own.’” After while, he said he liked that he wouldn’t have to compromise on any ideas, and decided to approach the project from the standpoint of making it “like a portfolio of what I’m capable of instead of collaboration.”

The album is “an honest depiction of being in your early 20s” and features “a lot of questioning,” according to Lussier. “What am I doing? Is any of this worth it? And what do I want to get out of it?” he said. “And for people in the world, it’s just a relatable thing, probably among multiple ages. You have these moments where you go, What am I looking to get out of this? What does ‘being worth it mean to me?’” he continued.

“Especially because there’s no instant gratification with something like this. It takes a while to make, and then I’m going to release it, and people are going to have their opinions in two seconds,” he added. “So, you make your own decisions about what you value. This project was me experimenting to see what I was capable of on a creative and performing and artistic level.”