Shawn Alpay named his project Completions as an internal reminder to finish things. He has served as a cellist for many projects, including Father John Misty, Whitney, How To Dress Well, and Laura Stevenson. He also worked extensively as an engineer at analog studio Tiny Telephone. But all this meant that his own creations remained deprioritized and half-done.

The name of Alpay’s debut LP, released Sept 23, 2022, is also a reminder: I Needed Help. The last couple of years presented him a great, if grim, opportunity to reckon with a lifetime of depending only on himself. Therapy, current events, marriage, and a serious back surgery laid the creative foundation for a batch of songs that circle around a singular theme: how can we let other people in, especially when we don't want to?

With that in mind, Alpay fleshed out the album arrangements by leaning on his friends, including Dave Depper (Death Cab for Cutie), Kelly Pratt (Father John Misty, Beirut), and Laura Stevenson.