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Passion Pit's Michael Angelakos is taking a break from the music industry for the foreseeable future. But he's not technically going on "hiatus."
"Until it is safer and healthier for us to be advocates, to be a writers, producers, and performers, I simply cannot continue making music," he wrote Sunday night on Twitter, explaining he plans to focus more on his mental health and awareness for others.
The singer has been open about his own mental health journey and his struggles with bipolar disorder and depression. Back in April, he live-streamed himself undergoing a treatment called transcranial magnetic stimulation.
"If we don't talk about it, that's quite literally why no one understands what we're talking about. I don't have anything to hide," he said during that treatment.
"You’re either committed to [advocacy] or not," Angelakos said last night on Twitter. "To raise awareness one moment and announce a show the next doesn’t help me. It hurts me. And others. I love Passion Pit and I love music even more. When something would be wrong, I’d try to ignore it. Then I’d almost die. Really. History loves to repeat itself and it’s because of systems and their flaws. So, I decided to make solving this issue my priority for now."
In February, Angelakos announced the Wishart Group, a company intended to help musicians with legal, educational and healthcare services.
His decision comes as his album, Tremendous Sea of Love, which he shared for free with fans who retweeted neuroscientist Michael F. Wells, is being widely released on digital platforms this Friday, with all proceeds benefitting the Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research at Broad Institute.
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Update: Since this story was first published, Angelakos has clarified he is not taking a hiatus from making music; he is simply focusing more of his energy and resources on mental health.
"Passion Pit isn’t on hiatus, it’s just evolving, like anyone and everything else," he said in a statement late Monday. "On its fifth birthday, the message behind Gossamer would remain lost if I were not to act on all that I’ve been speaking about since releasing that record. I think it’s important to show people that if we think something can be fixed, then it’s worth at least the attempt to fix it. Rather than talking about it endlessly, which will just reify the feeling we feel day-in and day-out—that it won’t change or that it’s only going to get worse. I certainly understand the feeling, I’ve felt it frequently these past few months, but, no, we’re not doing enough. There’s more that I can do, so I’m going to do it."