James Kahn, the physician turned novelist/TV and film writer/TV producer turned songwriter, chose to use the genre for an album of songs about COVID and apocalyptic environmental warnings. He is based in Santa Barbara, so naturally, the ocean looms large in his day-to-day life and acts as the thematic glue on ‘By The Risin’ Of The Sea.’ Changes in the oceans are an unresolved problem for environmental prophets of doom. This week the World Meteorological Organization announced that global oceans reached their hottest and most acidic levels ever recorded in 2021. Kahn was also inspired by his colleague David West, who suggested the album.