Critical Blast Publishing

R.J. Carter has released the first official video single from his forthcoming album, Another Second Chapter, with a lyric video for “The Boy I Told Goodbye.”

The video pairs the song with a sequence of still images that gradually illustrate the story behind the lyrics, turning one of the album’s most personal tracks into a short visual narrative. Rather than a conventional performance video, it follows the song scene by scene — from a painful drive made many years ago through memories of a family struggling with a decision no parent wants to make.

About the video: This lyric video uses AI-generated still imagery to dramatize the real-life events described in the song.

Featuring stories from Eric Shanower, Troy Riser, Michael Tierney, and seventeen other masters of the form, FANTASTIC VOYAGES is all about doors -- doors in this world we were never

For years, readers have known R. J. Carter as a storyteller through novels, short fiction, essays, comics, and publishing projects. On August 14, Carter adds a new chapter to that creative journey with the release of his debut Americana album, Another Second Chapter.

Built around ten story-driven songs, Another Second Chapter explores faith, family, gratitude, regret, perseverance, adoption, working-class life, and the unexpected turns that reshape a life. The album began with two deeply personal songs: Days Ahead, written after the realization that the years ahead had become fewer than the years behind, and The Boy I Told Goodbye, a reflection on the son Carter placed for adoption three decades ago.