Avoiding the Friction

October 24, on United Nations Day, I'm releasing Avoiding the Friction, a new single from my album Quiet.

I felt this piece deserved special attention — because the music isn’t only about inner peace, but also about the essential choice to seek peace in a world rife with conflict.

UN Day and the start of Disarmament Week are not only an occasion to reflect on world peace, but also a call to look within ourselves. Conflict begins with the friction between people, ideas, and egos, long before it erupts into open war. And that escalation to armed violence can be avoided — if we learn to listen, to understand, and to foster dialogue.

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The Feather and the Child

To convey the message behind Avoiding the Friction, I created a music video that combines excerpts from a live performance with AI-generated imagery.

At its center lies a simple image: a white feather drifting downstream. It moves with the current without resisting, finding the path of least resistance between the stones. The feather symbolizes vulnerability — but also freedom, resilience, and imagination. For me, it represents the possibility of peace: delicate, fragile, yet vibrant as long as we don’t crush it with violence.

Then a child scoops the feather from the water and blows it skyward. The dancing feather and the music intertwine to create a scene of innocence and hope. Children instinctively cherish all that is light, playful, and free. By blowing the feather into the air, the child expresses, in a fleeting gesture, the hope that something fragile can still rise above the weight of the world.

But there is no hope without despair.

As the final chord fades, the camera pans down to reveal the smoldering remains of a village. People slowly walk out of the valley, carrying only what little they can. The innocence of the child and the fragility of the feather are suddenly cast against the dark weight of war.

This stark contrast makes the distance between the dream of peace and the reality of violence almost palpable. For peace to have meaning, it must also withstand the harshest truths.

The film ends with the words of Nelson Mandela:

“History will judge us by the difference we make in the everyday lives of our children.”

Because ultimately, it comes down to one thing: our children will inherit the world we leave behind. In every war, they suffer most — losing homes, families, safety, and trust. And though they are in no way responsible, they still bear the consequences of choices they never made.

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Why This Release Matters

This is my contribution to Disarmament Week: a piece of music, a story about a fragile feather and an innocent child — and the reminder that peace is never abstract.

Avoiding the Friction is not weakness. It is a powerful act: to protect children and the world they will inherit, by choosing peace over ego, restraint over escalation.

Music cannot stop wars. But it can remind us of what’s at stake. It can hold space for reflection. And sometimes, it can call for action. That’s why I want this release to do more than speak about peace — I want it to act for peace.

👉 Help protect children — donate

For most of us who are not able to provide direct, hands-on support in the field, the best way to help is to donate to organizations that work every day to protect children affected by war.

UNICEF and Doctors Without Borders are excellent choices, but there are many others that make a real difference for children and families — providing food, shelter, and medical care in the hardest circumstances.

All of them deserve our support.

With gratitude,