The Seshen is a groundbreaking, soul-shaking East Bay-based sextet, fronted by vocalist/lyricist Lalin St. Juste and bassist/producer Aki Ehara. On a recent episode of West of Twin Peaks Radio, Lalin and Aki dove deep into the group's new LP, Nowhere, a concept album that chronicles the dissolution of the duo's romantic relationship and its evolution into a creative partnership.

MJ: My big questions is who said to who, 'I think I'm actually ready to chronicle the dissolution of our romantic relationship in a concept album'?

Aki: I don't think it was explicitly stated; I feel like it's kind of just the way that the music unfolded. We would meet and write, and I think it was what had been going on in our minds and where we were at.

Lalin: Yeah, I think that we decided, intuitively, to reflect what was happening with us. I think it just came to a point where we knew that we were both in a place where we're ready to share what we had been working on. We both shared that we wanted to, obviously, still be making music, but some of that music would have to reflect what we're going through...It was definitely a really difficult time for both of us. It was...it was a lot! We tried to capture as much as we could in our collaboration.

MJ: So some couples go to therapy. You guys sat together and worked it out. To me, it's like this, as artists, is your process.

Aki: I mean, we did do therapy too. [Both laugh] Speaking for myself, I feel like, with so much changing about our relationship, this was a way to remain connected to this aspect that we shared even before we were romantic together. We connected through music at the very beginning, just as friends.

MJ: Tell me your meet-up story. How did you two meet?

Lalin: We met in Ghana, studying abroad. We were both students from different UC colleges. We both were musicians. I brought my guitar and Aki brought his bass. We connected and spent time listening to music, talking about albums and artists that we loved. And then we fell in love and made a band, many years later, with all of these influences.

MJ: So thing were going swimmingly until...?

Lalin: Well actually, what happened was I came out again. I identified as queer, and I came out again as gay, and I needed to fully express myself in that way. So that was the reason that our romantic relationship had to change because it was a shift inside of myself that had to create a different thing in my life. I think that's also the undercurrent of why we're able to stay so connected is because there is a love that just naturally exists between us. It's just that, you know, life is complicated and it takes different turns.

MJ: Were you worried about what would happen to the band if your relationship ended?

Aki: More than anything, I was just trying to stay above water, personally. I think just taking things one step at a time and really just taking my own happiness into my own hands, not wanting to throw something really valuable away and having a bigger picture of what's possible, understanding I can still find happiness in different ways. Love evolves, and ultimately, us two as individuals, our needs may be different, but it doesn't necessarily mean they're in conflict. It just means that you have to seek them elsewhere.

MJ: It's such an intimate album. How do you feel about going out on the road and performing these songs night after night?

Aki: I think the challenging part is in the past, for me. I think actually working on it was definitely emotional. It was interesting, passing ideas back and forth over email [for the album], and noticing just how many similar feelings we were sharing, even though we're coming at it from completely different angles. I think it helped me to connect to our shared heartbreak and humanity, just hearing the other side of something that, yeah, was hard for me to understand. But when it comes to touring and performing, it does feel like the difficult processing has been kind of dealt with, and it's more of an experience of doing it with the whole band and just being excited to be back.

MJ: How does the band feel about the change in your relationship and the concept for the album?

Lalin: I guess they were fine with it! The songs happened! [All laugh] If anything, I believe everyone feels actually proud of us for doing it and commends us for putting ourselves out there in this way. At the end of the day, I just wanted [the album] to be inspiring to others and show different narratives out there about what's possible. I think everyone's on board with that.

MJ: Congratulations on getting this out. For anybody who has gone through a divorce or a dissolution of a long-term relationship and found a way to the other side, you just put into words the feelings that other people usually can't. It's a huge effort, and it means a lot.

Listen to MJ's conversation with The Seshen in full. Lalin and Aki talk about their solo projects, the impact of the pandemic quiet time on songwriting, their upcoming shows, and more. Speaking of shows...come to The Seshen's album release show at The New Parish in Oakland on Friday, October 20. Details and tickets here!