“It’s a bittersweet moment,” says senior Carsen Codel, who’s new album “Drift Away,” released under the pseudonym c.rsn, releases Friday, Nov. 10 on all music streaming platforms, including Apple Music, Tidal, YouTube, Amazon Music, and SoundCloud. It’s his first album since his 2020 project “Transitions,” and according to Codel “Drift Away” serves as “an anthology of all the songs I’ve made during college.” Throughout the project Codel attempts to capture an authentic and honest picture of human emotion, with several different sounds, instruments, and genres.

Codel’s first encounter with music was in church choir, but he quickly turned to piano, which he started learning in third grade. In high school, Codel committed to jazz piano, which was the spark to start writing music himself on an electronic keyboard. It started simply: “[I] just play a little jazz song on the piano, then put boom bap drums over it, and it’s a song.” At the time his inspiration came from the lo-fi hip-hop scene. He described it as “inspirational to see these people on Reddit or Instagram, just like here’s a beat I cooked up in my bedroom. I’m like, wait, that could be me.” His lo-fi roots serve as the inspiration for his name as well, as he explains that many lo-fi artists of the time used dots and underscores to stylize their names. 

Although Codel didn’t end up a lo-fi artist, the roots remain clear in his new album. In fact, “Drift Away” features 10 songs that take from a variety of inspirations including jazz, lo-fi, and indie. Codel himself describes his music as “bedroom pop,” meaning “music that sounds like it was made in your bedroom.” Codel says it provides “rawness and imperfections in the quality. It feels more authentic.” 

The album also features Washington University in a unique way. Two of the songs, “All Over Again” and “Drift Away,” were made for a composition class. The class is a small seminar that culminates in two complete demos. Codel’s demos turned into complete songs eventually put on the album. “All Over Again,” uniquely, was recorded live in the 560 Music Center and features instrumentals from WashU students and teachers. “Drift Away” has vocals, guitar and bass all recorded in the Harvey Media Center in the DUC.

To Codel, however, the album represents something more. With a music journey so undoubtedly linked with the University, graduation means the end of a period of growth and risk. This album is a celebration of that time. “It’s like bringing them all in one place. Which is really cool. I can have like this project and this is what I did in college and be proud of it.”