White flakes of snow fell outside the window of his London flat, making it obvious that winter was officially here. It wasn’t often it snowed in early December but Vessel enjoyed the way it almost muted the outside world. Like he could finally get some peace, a break from all the noise of London.

Music played from his sound system as he sat by his desk with his laptop on the table, half-heartedly checking emails and random Reddit threads just for something to do. It felt nice having nothing on his agenda after a year of non-stop touring and he felt proud whenever he thought about the success their album, Take Me Back To Eden, had given his band.

If anyone had told him that 2023 would change his life this much, Vessel probably wouldn’t have believed it. But there he was; his music blowing up, having toured the world with his best mates, and the following year was set to become even bigger.

A vibration came from his phone beside his keyboard, the screen lighting up with an incoming text from a number he didn’t immediately recognise at first glance.

Hmm, he mumbled, reaching for the device with a furrowed brow. It didn’t look like the initial message was meant for him to begin with. Out of sheer politeness, his fingers flew across the glass screen, typing out a reply and finishing with ‘send’.