Everywhere at the End of Time facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Everywhere at the End of Time
Ivan Seal, Beaten Frowns After, 2016, oil on canvas, cover art for Stage 1
Studio album series by the Caretaker
Released	22 September 2016 (2016-09-22) (Stage 1) 6 April 2017 (Stage 2) 28 September 2017 (Stage 3) 5 April 2018 (Stage 4) 20 September 2018 (Stage 5) 14 March 2019 (Stage 6)
Studio	Kraków, Poland
Genre	Ambient avant-garde big band dark ambient drone electronic experimental hauntology noise plunderphonics sound collage
Length	390:31 (6:30:31)
Label	History Always Favours the Winners
Producer	James Leyland Kirby
the Caretaker chronology
Extra Patience (After Sebald) (2012) Everywhere at the End of Time (2016–2019) Everywhere, an Empty Bliss (2019)

Everywhere at the End of Time is a special music project by an English musician named James Leyland Kirby, who uses the artist name the Caretaker. This project, released between 2016 and 2019, is made up of six albums. It uses old ballroom music from the 1920s and 1930s, but changes the sounds to show how dementia affects a person's memory.

Kirby was very interested in how memory fades. He created this series as his final work under the Caretaker name. He released each album about six months apart. This was so listeners could feel time passing, just like someone experiencing memory loss. His friend, Ivan Seal, created unique abstract art for each album cover.

The entire project is over six and a half hours long. It explores many feelings a person might have when their memory is fading, like happiness, confusion, sadness, and a sense of being alone. The first three albums use more recognizable big band music. But the later albums (Stages 4-6) become much more chaotic and noisy. This change in music helps show the increasing confusion.

Many people, including those who care for people with memory loss, have praised this music. They say it helps young listeners understand what it might be like to experience dementia. The series became very popular on YouTube and TikTok in the early 2020s. It even inspired other creative projects and became a well-known meme.

The Story Behind the Music

Al Bowlly, a big band singer whose music was used in Everywhere at the End of Time

In 1999, James Leyland Kirby started making music as the Caretaker. He used old big band songs and changed them to create a spooky, dream-like sound. He was inspired by a scene from the movie The Shining, which featured a haunted ballroom. His first album, Selected Memories from the Haunted Ballroom (1999), showed this style.

Over time, the Caretaker's music began to explore memory. In 2005, he released a three-hour album called Theoretically Pure Anterograde Amnesia. This album explored a type of memory loss where new memories can't be formed. More people started noticing his music by 2008.

A very popular album, An Empty Bliss Beyond This World, came out in 2011. It explored Alzheimer's disease, a condition that causes severe memory loss. Even though Kirby thought about stopping the Caretaker project, the success of this album encouraged him to continue. He realized the only memory-related idea left to explore was the full journey of Alzheimer's. This led to the creation of Everywhere at the End of Time. It was his final project as the Caretaker, marking a symbolic end for the musical name. Kirby felt he had explored everything he could with this alias.

How the Music Shows Memory Loss

The idea behind Everywhere at the End of Time is to explore how dementia progresses. It shows how a person's memory and understanding change over time. The project has six albums, each with special titles and descriptions from Kirby. These titles hint at ideas like memories fading, feeling sad, being confused, and the journey towards the end of life.

The music changes a lot from the beginning to the end of the series. It starts with clearer sounds and slowly becomes more distorted. This change helps listeners understand how memories might become jumbled or disappear. The first three albums sound a bit like Kirby's earlier work, using loops from old vinyl records. But as you listen to Stage 3, the songs get shorter and sometimes end suddenly.

The later albums, Stages 4–6, are called "Post-Awareness" stages. This means the music explores a time when a person no longer fully understands what is happening. The sounds become much more chaotic and noisy. This represents a person's changing view of reality and the increasing emptiness in their mind. Kirby said these last three stages were the most important part of the project.

The Six Stages of Memory Loss

Stages 1–3: Early Signs and Growing Awareness

Everywhere at the End of Time – Stages 1–3
Beaten Frowns After, 2016; Pittor Pickgown in Khatheinstersper, 2015; Hag, 2014
Studio album series by the Caretaker
Genre	Big band hauntology jazz
Length	Expression error: Unrecognized punctuation character ":". (Stage 1) Expression error: Unrecognized punctuation character ":". (Stage 2) Expression error: Unrecognized punctuation character ":". (Stage 3)
the Caretaker chronology
Extra Patience (After Sebald) (2012) Everywhere at the End of Time – Stages 1–3 (2016–2017) Take Care. It's a Desert Out There... (2017)

Stage 1: A Beautiful Daydream

Stage 1 shows the very first signs that memories might be fading. Kirby described it as "a beautiful daydream." The music is mostly happy and positive. Song titles like "Into Each Other's Eyes" suggest romantic memories. But other titles, like "We Don't Have Many Days," hint that the person is starting to realize something is changing. The music uses loops and sounds like old vinyl records. Kirby said these were "the last of the great days."

Stage 2: Realizing Something is Wrong

Stage 2 is about realizing that something is wrong with one's memory and trying not to accept it. Kirby noted a big change in the mood of the music here. Songs like "A Losing Battle Is Raging" show this shift. The music becomes more emotional and sad. The sounds are more degraded, meaning they have more static and sound older. Titles like "Surrendering to Despair" show the person's sadness. The music plays for longer, but the quality is worse, showing how memories are becoming faulty.

Stage 3: Last Clear Memories

Stage 3 represents some of the last clear memories before confusion takes over. Many tracks here are shorter and sometimes end suddenly. This shows the person's growing sadness and struggle to hold onto memories. Some song titles combine names from earlier stages, creating abstract phrases like "Sublime Beyond Loss." The second half of this album has the last recognizable melodies. Kirby explained these are the final moments when the person knows their memory is fading.

The first song of the entire project, "It's Just a Burning Memory," introduces a main musical theme called "Heartaches." This song slowly changes and fades throughout the series. In Stage 1, it's a clear version. By Stage 3, it's much harder to recognize, with the horn sounds becoming more like noise. The song titles often use words from the original "Heartaches" lyrics, which are about memories.

Stages 4–6: Deep Confusion and Emptiness

Everywhere at the End of Time – Stages 4–6
Giltsholder, 2017; Eptitranxisticemestionscers Desending, 2017; Necrotomigaud, 2018
Studio album series by the Caretaker
Genre	Choral drone glitch noise sound collage surrealist
Length	Expression error: Unrecognized punctuation character ":". (Stage 4) Expression error: Unrecognized punctuation character ":". (Stage 5) Expression error: Unrecognized punctuation character ":". (Stage 6)
the Caretaker chronology
Take Care. It's a Desert Out There... (2017) Everywhere at the End of Time – Stages 4–6 (2018–2019) Everywhere, an Empty Bliss (CD version) (2019)

Stage 4: Confusion Takes Over

Stage 4 is where "the ability to recall single memories gives way to confusions." This marks the start of the "Post-Awareness" stages. The music becomes very distorted and noisy, completely different from the earlier albums. The songs are very long, each taking up a whole side of a vinyl record. Most track titles are clinical, like "Post Awareness Confusions," showing the deep confusion. One track, "Temporary Bliss State," is calmer, offering a brief moment of peace.

Stage 5: Extreme Entanglements

Stage 5 features "more extreme entanglements, repetition and rupture." The music becomes even noisier, with sounds violently overlapping. This replaces the clear melodies from before. Track titles are still clinical, referring to parts of the brain or memory processes. Kirby explained that in this stage, a person might mistake new things for old ones. They might also feel very isolated. This album uses the most voices, including whispers and recognizable English words, which then get lost in the noise.

Stage 6: The World Fades Away

Kirby described Stage 6 simply as "Post-Awareness Stage 6 is without description." This is the most open to interpretation. The music is a void of sound, where music is barely audible and very distant. It's the furthest from the original ballroom music. It shows feelings of anxiety, sadness, and isolation. The songs are mostly hissing and crackling sounds, representing a sense of emptiness. The track titles here are emotional, like "A Confusion So Thick You Forget Forgetting" and "Place in the World Fades Away."

The very last song, "Place in the World Fades Away," features organ sounds. Near the end of the project, there's a moment of clear choir music. This is followed by a minute of silence. Many people believe this silence represents the end of the person's life. The clear choir moment is often seen as a brief return of mental clarity, a phenomenon called terminal lucidity, just before the very end. This final part brings the entire musical journey to a powerful close.

How the Music Was Made

Kirby created Everywhere at the End of Time in his home studio in Kraków. He used a special computer for music production. He actually made more songs for just the first stage than he had for all his previous Caretaker albums combined! Each album was finished months before its release.

Kirby wanted the first three stages to have small but important differences. He aimed for a consistent sound throughout the entire series. He often used different versions of the same old songs to create specific feelings. Instead of buying old records, he found most of his music samples online. He noted that Stage 1 used short loops, while Stage 2 let the samples play longer.

Kirby focused most of his effort on the last three stages. He wanted to create what he called "listenable chaos." He clarified that he didn't use artificial intelligence for Stages 4–6. Instead, he used music software in a way it wasn't designed for. He felt a lot of pressure while working on these final stages. He was often finishing one stage, mastering another, and starting a new one all at the same time. The production of the final stage was the hardest for him because of everyone's expectations.

The Artwork and Packaging

The album covers for Everywhere at the End of Time are abstract art paintings by Kirby's friend, Ivan Seal. These oil paintings are simple, focusing on one object without any text. As the stages progress, the objects in the paintings become harder to recognize. This reflects how memories fade and become distorted.

The first three covers are titled Beaten Frowns After (2016), Pittor Pickgown in Khatheinstersper (2015), and Hag (2014). Beaten Frowns After shows a grey, unravelling scroll, which some people think looks like the creases of a brain. Pittor Pickgown in Khatheinstersper shows wilting flowers in a strange vase. Hag is a very distorted plant.

The paintings for the final three stages are Giltsholder (2017), Eptitranxisticemestionscers Desending (2017), and Necrotomigaud (2018). Giltsholder is the only one with a human figure, a blue-and-green bust with unclear facial features. Eptitranxisticemestionscers Desending is considered the most abstract, showing a mass that could be a woman or a staircase. This represents a mind where experiences are no longer clear. Necrotomigaud shows an art board with a piece of blue tape, reflecting the emotional emptiness of Stage 6.

Seal's paintings and the Caretaker's music were part of a French art exhibition in 2019. Kirby explained that Seal's paintings are the main focus of each album. He kept extra notes in digital form for those who wanted to learn more.

Release and Popularity

Kirby wasn't sure if he should create Everywhere at the End of Time at all. He wanted to make sure it didn't seem too serious or complicated. The albums were released over three years to give listeners a sense of time passing. Kirby said that while he was fascinated by memory loss, it didn't affect him personally. He also noted that every person's experience with memory loss is unique.

When Stage 1 was released in September 2016, Kirby announced the project's concept. He said the Caretaker character was experiencing memory loss. This led some people to mistakenly believe Kirby himself had memory loss, but he quickly clarified it was only the Caretaker persona.

The Kraków Barbican, where Kirby performed in 2017

Anonymous visual artist Weirdcore created music videos for the first two stages. These videos were uploaded to Kirby's YouTube channel and featured effects like slow motion. Kirby felt these "otherworldly" visuals were important to his music. There are no official music videos for the later stages.

Kirby also performed live concerts, sometimes with Seal's art and Weirdcore's visuals. He performed in Kraków in 2017 and in Paris in 2018. He continued to perform in 2022 and 2023, saying each show was "a battle to make sense from the confusion."

Impact and Influence

Many critics and musicians consider Everywhere at the End of Time to be the Caretaker's most important work. The albums are seen as some of the best music of the 2010s. People found the way it showed memory loss to be very emotional and powerful.

In January 2020, a YouTuber named Solar Sands made a video about the album's art and concept. This video received over four million views. Later in October 2020, users on TikTok started a challenge to listen to the entire series in one sitting. This was because of its long length and deep themes. Kirby noticed a huge increase in views on the series' YouTube upload, which had over 36 million views.

The album cover of Memories Overlooked (2017)

Text from the thumbnail of a YouTube video about Everywhere at the End of Time

In 2017, various vaporwave musicians released the seven-hour-long compilation album Memories Overlooked in tribute of the Caretaker alias. In 2020, Internet users popularised the series for its 'breaking' reflection of dementia, resulting in the creation of creepypasta and meme-related content.

Some TikTok users shared fictional stories about the album. While some of these claims were not true, Kirby saw the overall popularity as a positive thing. He believed it helped many people, especially younger listeners, gain a better understanding of what someone with memory loss might experience. This phenomenon brought an unexpected audience of teenagers to Kirby's music.

Everywhere at the End of Time continued to be a popular meme in the early 2020s. It became linked to internet aesthetics like liminal spaces and the analog horror genre. These visuals often reflect the feelings of confusion and fading memories found in the music. In 2024, American singer Lana Del Rey even played a live version of "It's Just a Burning Memory" at her Coachella 2024 performance. She said the song was beautiful and reminded her of her grandfather's struggle with memory loss.

Track listing

Adapted from Bandcamp. Notes adapted from Kirby's YouTube uploads of Stages 1–3, Stages 4–6, and the complete edition.

Personnel

Credits adapted from YouTube.

• James Leyland Kirby – producer
• Ivan Seal – artwork
• Andreas Lubich – mastering

Release history

All released worldwide by record label History Always Favours the Winners.

See also

• Alzheimer's disease in the media
• It's Such a Beautiful Day (2012), a film series portraying mental illness and immortality
• List of concept albums
• Music therapy for Alzheimer's disease
• William Utermohlen, an artist with Alzheimer's disease who drew self-portraits to chronicle the disorder's advancement