Sharps Box by Dylan MacWilliams

CONTENT WARNING [particularly for tracks 1, 2, 4, 5]: themes of systemic and interpersonal violence including explicit lyrics about sexual assault [track 4], cissexism, policing, genocide, racism.

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This is a split album between a Dylan who is in their mid-twenties and a 16- to 19-year-old Maddie. Another name of mine is Madeleine.

Since April of last year, I've been subcutaneously injecting the thick, oily, highly-regulated substance Testosterone Cypionate into my body, and putting the single-use needles and syringes into a sharps box. The current sharps box I use sits on top of the fridge. It's a pretty sturdy plastic container. In its former life, it held 14 lb. of cat litter.

I worried that I might not be able to sing as well after the expected voice drop. It was a big unknown. So I caught myself on my first T day, and recorded and released an EP, to lessen the loss of my Maddie voice. I'm glad I made those recordings. When I watch home movies from the 1990s, I am reminded that this voice is actually always changing.

Did you know I can't find a word to describe any body that doesn't turn every body into an object to have or to use?; that doesn't imply a static and indisputable separation between body and world? "My." "It." "The."

This body contains and is an entire tired world, and deserves a language to match that complexity.

Anyway, here are some songs I wrote.

Tracklist

1.	Protest Signs (I Love You, You're A Liberal)	2:28

2.	Maybe I'm Too Sensitive	3:15

3.	The Man You're Looking For	2:33

4.	Fucked Me (Over)	1:46

5.	Heirs to the Throne	2:35

6.	Thunderstorm I (Bangor, MI, Summer 2013)	2:24

7.	Kinds of Frustration (2011)	4:54

8.	To Love (2011)	4:46

9.	From Nothing (2011)	3:37

10.	Caught (2009)	1:43

11.	Thunderstorm II (Saint Paul, MN, Spring 2018)	1:11

Credits

released May 30, 2018

Artists: Dylan MacWilliams (tracks 1-5), Maddie MacWilliams (tracks 7-10), thunderstorms (tracks 6, 11)

Composer: Madeleine MacWilliams

Tracks 8 and 9 were mixed and mastered by Johnny Simon, Jr. (Boston, MA, Spring 2011)

License

CC BY-NC-ND 3.0. See the Creative Commons website for details.