Passion Pit Announces Hiatus to Focus on Mental Health Advocacy

Michael Angelakos, better known to music fans as Passion Pit, has announced that he will be stepping away from music for the time being to focus on mental health advocacy. The announcement came in a string of tweets tonight in which he makes it clear that he will not be releasing music for the time being, though he has not ruled out a return to music at some point. In the tweet, he states that until it is safer to be an advocate he simply cannot continue making music. Earlier this year, Angelakos founded the Wishart Group to advocate for those with mental disorders (he himself has bipolar disorder).

He then went on to post several more times throughout the night, including a post that indicates this hiatus is essentially a boycott. While he was able to overcome his mental disability over the last few years, his concern is for other artists who may not have his same fortunate fate, particularly due to the lack of resources in the music industry for writers, performers and producers. Earlier this year Angelakos released his latest album, Tremendous Sea of Love one song at a time without an official release from a label, and then gave the entire album away for free to any one who promoted his Tweet, and then gave deluxe edition away to anyone who retweeted his post regarding depression being the leading cause of disability and illness in the world. The album will see an official release next Friday when it hits streaming services.

The announcement comes on the five year anniversary of his album Gossamer, which Angelakos explains was the product of a manic episode. During that time, he states in the tweet, he nearly lost everything, including his life. Despite the album being a critically acclaimed piece of art, Angelakos’ hope is that the same situation never happens again to other musicians suffering from mental illness.

While this hiatus means we may not see new music from Passion Pit in the near future, it does not mean that Angelakos is not creating art. He simply will not be releasing the music until working conditions are improved for those in the music industry.

Photo Credit: Raymond Flotat