There Is Beauty in the Cracks

In Japanese culture, there’s an art form called kintsugi, or kintsukuroi—the practice of repairing broken pottery with gold. Instead of disguising the cracks, it highlights them, making the object even more beautiful than before. It’s a philosophy that sees flaws not as failures, but as part of a deeper story.

That idea resonated with me deeply as I wrote this piece. It's titled “There is beauty in the cracks”—a reminder that imperfection, fragility, and even the things we try to hide can hold something deeply moving.

inspired by the art of kintsugi

I’ve always been drawn to music that captures contrast: tension and release, stillness and movement, light and shadow. This track is no different. It began as a quiet reflection—just a simple motif I was playing on una corda piano—then grew into something layered, unfolding like light filtering through broken spaces.

I wanted to explore how cracks don’t just signify damage; they create openings. Spaces where something new can emerge. Maybe resilience, maybe hope, maybe a kind of beauty that wasn’t there before. Like kintsugi, music has the power to take something fragile and transform it into something golden.

In the current geopolitical state, some very severe cracks have appeared, not to say things are quite broken. Uncertainty, division, fear, and animosity is creeping into our lives. But what if, in the spirit of kintsukuroi, we chose to see these fractures as part of a greater transformation for the better? Not in a naive way, but as an act of defiance—choosing to find meaning and connection where others see only brokenness. Wouldn’t we feel more at peace, more understanding, more fulfilled, and even more confident?

Perhaps that is the real art: not in mending the cracks, but in learning to see them differently.

I'm happy to share this first mockup of There Is Beauty in the Cracks. I’d love to hear what you think—how it makes you feel, what images or memories it brings to mind. As always, your thoughts help shape the way I refine my music before it reaches its final form.

Let’s embrace the cracks. They might just be where the light gets in.

— Allan