I grew up with anxiety, insomnia, and panic attacks, but years of meditation taught me how to make peace with my mind. This album is an instruction manual set to music, a collection of strategies for helping me stay grounded and navigate troubled thoughts. If it helps others, even better.

Everything but my voice was created on the couch with a single hybrid analog/digital groovebox: the Elektron Syntakt.

Bandcamp

This Bright Circumstance

My friendship and creative partnership with Matt Mancid spans more than a decade.

Way back in 2012, his remix of “What You Said” appeared on the Trance Emotions, Vol. 5 compilation album.

Since then he’s remixed more than a dozen Color Theory tracks, and we released an album of 80s covers together in 2021 called Peripheral.

The three remixes presented here explore trance, house, and Music-for-the-Masses-era synthpop.

This Bright Circumstance (Matt Mancid Remixes)

The latest 80s-influenced synth-driven pop, updated every Friday! Get a synthwave classic on CD for free at colortheory.com

Vocal Synthwave Retrowave

Listen/download ➤ https://to.colortheory.com/dyingstars

Have you ever known someone who can reliably coax you out of your hiding place? Who's presence effortlessly compels you to lower your guard? Who pierces straight through your insecurities to reveal your best self? 

“Crystal” is an uncharacteristically optimistic song about just that sort of person. 

CRYSTAL
©2022 Brian Hazard (ASCAP0

What’s precious inside me
Won’t let itself be known
To come out of hiding
Is to end up alone

No I won’t break down in front of you
Oh of all the stupid things to do

I won’t let you in
I won’t cross the line
I’ve been burnt too many times
I want to believe
Want to be alive
Look into my crystal eyes
Where a shout of joy
Is waiting to be born
Is waiting to be born

You slice me right open
A dazzling crystal blade
So thin I can’t feel it
So fast I can’t evade

And you cut right to the heart of it
And it only hurt a little bit

COLOR THEORY
@colortheory
Bandcamp - http://colortheory.bandcamp.com
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Crystal

Listen/download ➤ https://ffm.colortheory.com/thenewdivision

The New Division transforms one of my best songs into a hypnotizing, hard-hitting epic!

Hear more TND at @thenewdivision

CRYSTAL
©2022 Brian Hazard (ASCAP0

What’s precious inside me
Won’t let itself be known
To come out of hiding
Is to end up alone

No I won’t break down in front of you
Oh of all the stupid things to do

I won’t let you in
I won’t cross the line
I’ve been burnt too many times
I want to believe
Want to be alive
Look into my crystal eyes
Where a shout of joy
Is waiting to be born
Is waiting to be born

You slice me right open
A dazzling crystal blade
So thin I can’t feel it
So fast I can’t evade

And you cut right to the heart of it
And it only hurt a little bit

COLOR THEORY
@colortheory
Bandcamp - http://colortheory.bandcamp.com
Spotify - http://spoti.fi/1UbfAWa
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Crystal (The New Division Remix)

Listen/download ➤ https://to.colortheory.com/dyingstars

A song to celebrate the one you never truly let go of.

TRICK OF THE LIGHT
©2022 Brian Hazard (ASCAP)

You’ve been forgotten
For months and moments
Enough to make me
Scream that I don’t love you

But when I’m driving
Alone at midnight
I scan the sidestreets
For signs of you

Can’t leave it alone
To think that you were right
It’s like you’re still here
In the corner of my eye
Tip of the tongue
Trick of the light

This expectation
Is my creation
I know it isn’t healthy
To dwell on this

Hallucination
The sharp sensation
Of hungering for
Something different

COLOR THEORY
@colortheory
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Trick of the Light

Listen/download ➤ https://to.colortheory.com/dyingstars

The mind is a curious thing.

You can be driving on the freeway at 80 mph lost in thought, as peaceful as can be despite the very real risk of dying in a crash at any moment.

Or you can be lying in your bed safe and sound, tossing and turning for hours over something that happened in the past or may never happen at all.

DEATH MACHINE
©2023 Brian Hazard (ASCAP)

In the driver’s seat
Weaving through the steel parade
In our daily procession
Speed is liberty
While my mind is free to drift
In and out of aggression

Piloting a death machine
Peaceful and hypnotizing
Laying down to fall asleep
Stressful and worrying
Predisposed to ruminate
Over some nebulous fate
Get your priorities straight

In a quiet room
Lurk imaginary beasts
Rising as the world slumbers
What may never be
Ribbons drifting in the wind
Yet I can’t help but wonder

In the here and now
Let our hearts be undisturbed
By the blossoming chaos

COLOR THEORY
@colortheory
Bandcamp - http://colortheory.bandcamp.com
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Death Machine

Listen/download ➤ https://ffm.colortheory.com/thisbrightcircumstance

I spent most of my life locked in a losing battle against so-called “intrusive thoughts.”

You can't stop your mind from thinking any more than you can stop your ears from hearing or your skin from feeling.

Thoughts arise spontaneously, all on their own. Over time I learned to treat them as welcome guests rather than intruders.

Surrender.

All non-vocal sounds come from the Elektron Syntakt. The project file is included in the Bandcamp album download.

THOUGHTS CAN'T HURT YOU
©2024 Brian Hazard (ASCAP)

Your thoughts are never dangerous
Accept them without prejudice
The only passage out is through
What you resist comes back to you

You think your house a cluttered mess (these patterns)
Wrangling with uninvited guests (like phantoms)
Who vandalize your furniture (don’t chase them)
Be grateful for each visitor

Thoughts can’t hurt you
Don’t usher them away
Thoughts can’t hurt you
Invite them to stay
Thoughts can’t hurt you
They whisper like a breeze
If you keep the doors open
They’ll come and go as they please

Can’t reason your way out of this (unravels)
There’s no one here to bargain with (like shadows)
Who do you think you’re talking to? (point backward)
That voice you hear, it isn’t you

COLOR THEORY
@colortheory
Bandcamp - http://colortheory.bandcamp.com
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Thoughts Can't Hurt You

Listen/download ➤ https://ffm.colortheory.com/ourlastsong

“Our Last Song” is a haunting reflection on the end of a relationship, from resignation to denial to ultimate acceptance, acknowledging the echoes of the past while embracing the prospect of freedom and closure.

OUR LAST SONG
©2024 Ben McGarvey (PRS) & Brian Hazard (ASCAP)

This is our last song
It echoes down these halls
It’s getting louder
Harder to ignore

Oh how it haunts us
But too scared to sing the words
Sometimes I mumble
Though I know them all too well

This is our last song
Playing out all night long
Saying our time has come
Time to move on
A song about freedom
About acceptance
This is our last song
It plays all night long

In the beginning
It was so easy to touch
It felt so natural
Now I don’t feel so much

But for a longing
To prove that I am loved
To feel that connection
I’m not ready to give up

This is our last song
Playing out all night long
Saying our time has come
Time to move on
A song about freedom
About acceptance
This is our last song
It plays all night long

We can’t say we didn’t try
Pretend that something hasn’t died
It’s not your fault and it’s not mine
It’s just the way it goes in life sometimes

I get the feeling
We’re fighting chemistry
We blame each other
Is it you or is it me?

But there’s a comfort
In surrendering control
I’m singing out now
Learning to let go

This is our last song
Playing out all night long
Saying our time has come
Time to move on
A song about freedom
About acceptance
This is our last song
It plays all night long

MINUTE TAKER
@minutetaker
Spotify - https://spoti.fi/4bOCHlC
Facebook - www.facebook.com/MinuteTakerMusic
Instagram - www.instagram.com/minutetaker
Apple Music/iTunes - https://music.apple.com/us/artist/minute-taker/575782695
Official - www.minutetaker.net

COLOR THEORY
@colortheory
Bandcamp - http://colortheory.bandcamp.com
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Our Last Song

Listen/download ➤ https://ffm.colortheory.com/thisbrightcircumstance

Ever felt a sudden pain in your chest and wondered if you were having a heart attack? Your mind races, envisioning yourself on a stretcher, rushing to the ER. “The Ambulance” explores how our thoughts and emotions can feel as urgent as a call to 911.

THE AMBULANCE
©2024 Brian Hazard (ASCAP)

I see the flashing lights
I hear the siren screaming let me through
The blackness of the night
Exploding into red and blue

Experience the ambulance
Strap in for the ride
The urgency of emergency
The drip of IV lines
Observing vital signs

When every second counts
And one of us is knocking on death’s door
To hear that piercing cry
And wonder who it’s coming for

But I am not the passenger
So scrupulously stowed
And I am not in the driver’s seat
To bear this precious load
It’s more like I’m the road

A feeling of alarm
Defaulting to a frantic point of view
I stop to catch my breath
And ask who this is happening to

COLOR THEORY
@colortheory
Bandcamp - http://colortheory.bandcamp.com
Spotify - http://spoti.fi/1UbfAWa
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The Ambulance

Listen/download ➤ https://ffm.colortheory.com/thisbrightcircumstance

We all get angry sometimes. Staying angry takes work.

You have to continuously remind yourself of how you've been wronged and why you have every right to be upset. As I put it in the lyrics, staying angry demands that you “dedicate yourself to reliving dying grievances.”

Of course, my purpose in pointing it out isn't to reinforce the pattern. Once you recognize it, you can simply choose to get off the ride.

THE ART OF ANGER
©2024 Brian Hazard (ASCAP)

Here’s a master class
In The Art of Anger
Righteousness and wrath
Come in many flavors

Memories are cruel
They’re the fuel
For this whole endeavor
Trauma is the spark
Leaves a mark
That can last forever
Keep the flame alive
By reminding yourself constantly

Whisper to the flames
As you stoke the embers
Recite the names
Of the worst offenders

Hold on to that grudge
Never budge
Or permit distraction
Staying mad is work
Feel the hurt
Keep your mind in action
Dedicate yourself
To reliving dying grievances

COLOR THEORY
@colortheory
Bandcamp - http://colortheory.bandcamp.com
Spotify - http://spoti.fi/1UbfAWa
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Twitter - www.twitter.com/colortheory
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The Art of Anger

Listen/download ➤ https://ffm.colortheory.com/icannotrain

“I Cannot Rain” is about feeling beyond sadness, so beaten down that you can’t even bring yourself to cry. All that’s left is emptiness — dry cheeks and silence.

The track started when I sent my Syntakt (an analog synth groovebox) idea to &Tilly. It immediately reminded her of an old poem she’d written, and she quickly adapted it to the song.

Despite the heavy theme, the song also offers a subtle reminder to persevere and live fully even in the midst of despair, because “every life is just a loan” that will one day have to be given back.

I CANNOT RAIN
©2024 Eli Simon (STIM) & Brian Hazard (ASCAP)

Plant the seed
And tell me that you’re sure
I can’t endure
The silence, oh so loud

Break the need
And show me that you’ve cared
Not so pure
Any more than I have found

Let me be
I can’t be ever sure 
How to set it free
Hear the silence pouring out
I cannot rain
I cannot rain out loud

The empty shout
The cry that doesn’t come
Stormy sides
The truth just came about

Am I still
Is this tiny cell not mine?
Hum and groan
For any life is just a loan

Let me be
I can’t be ever sure
How to set it free
Hear the silence pouring out
I cannot rain
I cannot rain out loud

But main
Would be that what isn’t
Forgotten bars of an empty prison
An empty prison

Let me be
I can’t be ever sure
How to set it free
Hear the silence pouring out
I cannot rain
I cannot rain out loud

&TILLY
@andtilly
Spotify - https://spoti.fi/3XpCfp3
Instagram - www.instagram.com/andtillymusic
Facebook - www.facebook.com/andtilly
YouTube - www.youtube.com/andtilly
Official - www.andtilly.com

COLOR THEORY
@colortheory
Bandcamp - http://colortheory.bandcamp.com
Spotify - http://spoti.fi/1UbfAWa
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I Cannot Rain

Listen/download ➤ https://ffm.colortheory.com/punchingshadows

Earlier this year, German film director and longtime Color Theory fan Louis Bennies asked me to produce an end credits song for his upcoming film Signals.

The film tells the story of a high school boy with autism who falls in love with a girl who sees him for who he is, despite others labeling him as “weird.” The song began to take shape after a Zoom conversation where we discussed the broader themes of love, identity, and standing up for yourself.

It wasn’t until I watched a rough cut of the film that the direction for the track truly came into focus. A pivotal gym scene, where the protagonist confides in two older mentors while hitting a punching bag, became the emotional core of the track.

PUNCHING SHADOWS
©2024 Brian Hazard (ASCAP)

Lace up my gloves
Check my stance
Alone with my shadow
Ready to dance
It’s about time
I stood up for myself
Roll with the punches
Come out of my shell

I’ll protect my face
Keep the weight on my toes
Try to find my reach
When I’m punching shadows
No it’s not your fault
That you don’t understand me
When I’m punching shadows
(gotta fight my fears)
Punching shadows
(through the sweat and tears)

Falling in love
With every strike
A heart that knew only darkness
Suddenly light
Growing into
A new identity
A man with a future
Set finally free

If they only knew
How I see the world
And my place within it
Let me find the words
I just need a minute
You know it’s not my fault
That I don’t understand you
So I’m punching shadows

COLOR THEORY
@colortheory
Bandcamp - http://colortheory.bandcamp.com
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Punching Shadows

Listen/download ➤ https://ffm.colortheory.com/thecurve

“The Curve” is my favorite of the four tracks I sang on for the upcoming Second Complex album. It harkens back to the classic synthie-pop sounds of the 2000s from bands like Camouflage, De/Vision, and Wolfsheim.

COLOR THEORY
@colortheory
Bandcamp - http://colortheory.bandcamp.com
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The Curve

Listen/download ➤ https://ffm.colortheory.com/thisbrightcircumstance

This song is about the need to experience things for yourself instead of relying on hearsay and assumptions. And also, tigers.

I’ve been told this one is “classic Color Theory,” whatever that means.

WHERE TIGERS ARE SAID TO ROAM
©2024 Brian Hazard (ASCAP)

They say that tigers roam free
In these lands
You wonder how that could be
When you’ve never seen one
Legends of mist-covered hills
Perilous thrills

The mighty roar
The savage gore
Rumors and idle folklore
Map out a route
Remove all doubt
Only one way to know for sure
Set out for the great unknown
Where tigers are said to roam

Don’t be content to rely
On hearsay
To confirm what you deny
Explore every region
Seek out the cat in its den
Time and again

It may be dangerous
Who knows what you might find
Embrace the wilderness
The courage to face
The nature of your own mind

You must do this on your own
Set out for the great unknown
Where tigers are said to roam

COLOR THEORY
@colortheory
Bandcamp - http://colortheory.bandcamp.com
Spotify - http://spoti.fi/1UbfAWa
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Where Tigers Are Said to Roam

Listen/download ➤ https://ffm.colortheory.com/thisbrightcircumstance

Is sadness always bad? Is joy always good? “Flavor” is a reminder that every experience — pain, pleasure, and everything in between — is an essential part of being human. Savor it all, bitter and sweet alike.

FLAVOR
©2025 Brian Hazard (ASCAP)

It’s just a flavor
Like bitter or sour, spicy or sweet
So why not savor
The salt in the tears running down your cheek?

Is there any creature alive
That’s happy all the time
No the day will never arrive
Incomprehensible
Feast upon the sting of the cold
The warmth of summer’s kiss
Nothing else is real
Only this

Taste each flavor
Welcome the burn
So that we might learn

It’s just a flavor
Like falling in love, wanting to die
A heat exchanger
To breathe in the fire of a dragon’s sigh

Welcome the ache
Take in the unpleasant
Whatever is present
To be like a mirror
Reflecting what’s really there

COLOR THEORY
@colortheory
Bandcamp - http://colortheory.bandcamp.com
Spotify - http://spoti.fi/1UbfAWa
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Twitter - www.twitter.com/colortheory
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Flavor

Listen/download ➤ https://ffm.colortheory.com/volatile

Following the success of their single “The Curve,” Second Complex and Color Theory return with a nostalgic yet modern 4-track EP inspired by 2000s synthpop icons like Camouflage and De/Vision.

COLOR THEORY
@colortheory
Bandcamp - http://colortheory.bandcamp.com
Spotify - http://spoti.fi/1UbfAWa
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Volatile Emotions

Listen/download ➤ https://ffm.colortheory.com/volatile

People seemed to like our recent single “The Curve,” so we’re back with a 4-track EP which includes “Surrender.” It harkens back to the classic synthie-pop sounds of the 2000s from bands like Camouflage, De/Vision, and Wolfsheim.

SURRENDER

Devotion
Is not an easy mission
To accomplish when
Heart and mind seem unaligned
And in a sad condition

Stay committed
Be true to your mind
When the gut feeling fails
And everything you thought was right
Will turn you blind

The higher you climb
The harder you fall
The balance is wrong
On the wall

Emotion
Is all you’ve got to live for
The perfect spice for living
Even if it sometimes feels like
Another mind war

The higher you climb
The harder you fall
The balance is wrong
On the wall

The higher you climb
The harder you fall
The balance is wrong
On the wall

Surrender to the real
Emotions from within
It’s a liberating feeling
Not a sin

COLOR THEORY
@colortheory
Bandcamp - http://colortheory.bandcamp.com
Spotify - http://spoti.fi/1UbfAWa
Patreon - www.patreon.com/colortheory
Twitter - www.twitter.com/colortheory
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Surrender

Listen/download ➤ https://ffm.colortheory.com/volatile

People seemed to like our recent single “The Curve,” so we’re back with a 4-track EP which closes with “Follow Your Own Fire.” It harkens back to the classic synthie-pop sounds of the 2000s from bands like Camouflage, De/Vision, and Wolfsheim.

FOLLOW YOUR OWN FIRE

The wisdom of ages  
Carved in my mind  
Will help you satisfy  
Your questioning tongue  
I hope you'll find the  
Answers you seek  
And believe me I know  
That nothing is wrong  

Lay down your head  
On the pillow of my bones  
Take a deep breath  
And close your beautiful eyes  
My whispers in your  
Subconsciousness will  
Help you escape  
The dark side of life  

The eclipse of your shadow  
Is fading away  
But try to hold back  
The demon you hide inside  
Torturous images  
Darken your mind  
But fight your way back  
Into the light  

Follow your own fire  
Face the consequences and  
Listen to what I say  
Follow your own fire  
Leave your memories behind  
And follow your own way back  

Face the mirror and  
Try to redeem yourself again  
And vanish into  
Where the world has no end  
Try hard to love  
The reflection that you see in there  
You're not alone  
So don't try to pretend

COLOR THEORY
@colortheory
Bandcamp - http://colortheory.bandcamp.com
Spotify - http://spoti.fi/1UbfAWa
Patreon - www.patreon.com/colortheory
Twitter - www.twitter.com/colortheory
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Get two new exclusive tracks every month:
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Follow Your Own Fire

Listen/download ➤ https://ffm.colortheory.com/thisbrightcircumstance

“The Rehearsal” is about compulsively practicing conversations in your head—what you’ll say, how you’ll say it, and replaying it until it all feels just right, even if you end up never saying a word.

THE REHEARSAL
©2025 Brian Hazard (ASCAP)

I deal in daydreams
I traffic in text
Endless predictions of
What you’ll say next

I pick my battles
And I take my licks
At the rehearsal
I rewrite the script

There’s something I have to get off my chest
But I don’t know how to say it best

Tape decks chew on old cassettes
Restless pacing wears the floorboards
Grasp at smoke and call it home
Shape my thoughts like molten chrome

Stories aching to be told
Every silence must be broken
But I bottled the eclipse
From my umbra to your lips

It’s a compulsion
A cognitive trap
At the rehearsal
I polish my act

I’m the sole architect of each pause
I preach my gospel to empty halls

Why not let the words find their own flow?
I can make it all up as I go

Improvisation
Is the skillful way
Trust when the time comes
I’ll know what to say

Let go of scenes
That may never exist
Live in the moment
And welcome the risk

COLOR THEORY
@colortheory
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The Rehearsal

Listen/download ➤ https://ffm.colortheory.com/thisbrightcircumstance

Every time you do something, there’s a very real chance that you may never do it again. What would you do differently if you knew it was the last time?

THE LAST TIME
©2025 Brian Hazard (ASCAP)

There must be a million things
I’ll never do again
Like sleeping beneath the stars
Holding my father’s hand

When our lives are enchanted
We take it for granted
Sipping on borrowed wine
We misplace our attention
And nobody mentions
It could be the last time

If I knew what would I do differently?
Would I start weeping uncontrollably?
This could be my last time and I wouldn’t even know

It wasn’t so long ago
I kissed my son goodnight
Then one night I let him be
Figured he’d be alright

We’re all dying in pieces
And deepening creases
Prisoners of our minds
Can’t afford to be reckless
With something so precious
It could be the last time

It may sound a bit morbid
Tasteless or sordid
Dwelling on cruel facts
But these moments define you
And serve to remind you
It could be your last act
You won’t get this day back

This could be my last song and I wouldn’t even know

COLOR THEORY
@colortheory
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The Last Time

Listen/download ➤ https://ffm.colortheory.com/proofofconcept

Why do new ideas come wrapped in self-doubt? Every act of creation is an act of courage, a delicate balance of ambition and anxiety.

PROOF OF CONCEPT
©2025 Brian Hazard (ASCAP)

The craziest notion lurks inside my mind
(Come to the fore greatness)
The dream of a dying afterthought
(Light the fog)
Got nothing to prove to anyone but me
(Some of you may hate this)
A pioneer has to walk the walk
(Should I fall)

The here and now (ever after)
The why and how not yet aligned (twisting)
The strings we pull (tying knots our)
Conceptual visions defined
Enshrined

A novel idea becomes a prototype
(Here is my grand vision)
A complex machine of gears and cogs
(Interlocked)
With beaker in hand, wearing a white lab coat
(Chemical magician)
I beg that you won’t think me a fraud
(Should I fail)

COLOR THEORY
@colortheory
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Proof of Concept

Listen/download ➤ https://ffm.colortheory.com/findme

Living somewhere between The NeverEnding Story and The Chronicles of Narnia, “Find Me” tells the story of a youthful promise, a secret hiding place, and the years in between.

FIND ME
©2025 Brian Hazard (ASCAP) & Rainer Aschemeier (GEMA)

You know me
I’ll chase a shooting star
Even when it disappears

A childhood pact
A test of loyalty
We’ve endured for all these years

Beyond the wasteland dune
In the lair of the dragon rune
Under the mighty sea
Will you find me?

In the eye of the hurricane
In the notes of the last refrain
Inside the lion‘s den
Will you find me?

A secret place
We never said out loud
Where we vowed to meet again

I hold on tight with all my might
Somehow I still believe in magic
And reckless schemes

Far from the land where we began
Somehow I still believe in magic
And whispered dreams

COLOR THEORY
@colortheory
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Find Me

Listen/download ➤ https://ffm.colortheory.com/thisbrightcircumstance

I lost my father last year to Alzheimer's and my mom is in the advanced stages. If I’m to befall the same fate, at least I left instructions.

WHEN I CAN'T REMEMBER YOU
©2025 Brian Hazard (ASCAP)

In the gathering dusk
I will fade to a husk
Vital systems will fail
Trains of thought will derail

What you think of as me
[in a healthy body]
Will in time cease to be
[promise]
Can you give me a clue
When I can’t remember you?

Every name, every face
[every precious moment]
Getting harder to place
[over]
Like a verse left unsung
On the tip of my tongue

We all end up as dust
[out of love or duty]
So we do what we must
[help me]
Hold my hand, guide me through
When I can’t remember you

“You’re going to lose it all”
A whisper in the gloom
Feel like I should apologize
For what I’ll put you through
The faithful will testify
That true love never dies
But nobody knows for sure
What’s going on behind those lost eyes

Recollection recedes
[in the final stages]
Strangers tend to my needs
[helpless]
Play this song in my room
When I can’t remember you

COLOR THEORY
@colortheory
Bandcamp - http://colortheory.bandcamp.com
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When I Can't Remember You

The Art of Anger (Matt Mancid Remix)

Stop Breathing (Matt Mancid Remix)

The Last Time (Matt Mancid Remix)

Never Ending Time

► Spotify https://open.spotify.com/album/2Z0nGl3dU9tlnd13MCutpZ?si=IwGeeYRwQqSdugttx73X8w
► Other platforms https://links.alexklb.music/hbyl

▚  Music, signals, and ghosts https://alexklb.music

Haunted By Your Love

My second collaboration with A Days Wait, “Empty Promises” is a bittersweet song about home, leaving, and the promises we make along the way.

EMPTY PROMISES

It feels like my very first time away
Making empty promises again
And I see you hanging around all day
I was trying to keep you safe

It seemed like we should've had it all
But it looks like we should go

Coming back around again
On the road back home
Thought we'd make it out alive 
But I was losing hope

It's not the very first time I've said
I don't feel like growing up
Now I see you hanging around my head 
and I know what that's about

We won't make it on our own 
If we fall apart
We’ll muddle forward to the tune
Of a beating heart

It feels like the very first time away
It's just like my very first time away
It feels like my very first time away
Making Empty Promises

COLOR THEORY
@colortheory
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Empty Promises

R. Missing - Like the Sound of Injured Love

Like the Sound of Injured Love

NEW SOULS

Headed for a reset
I've been lying to the people I don't know yet
I've been living in the places that I won't go
Hold my hand and maybe you and I can follow
Slow

There's a room in the basement
It's replete with all the things that I'm replacing
Step outside and we could forage for a new soul
I've been trying to, but I can never make whole

Then the long nights arrive
When we start to fall apart inside

I was wrong to say that I didn't know
And now the words are holding me back
I would make a trade for a newer soul
Purpose built for you to unpack

Now I'm on the defense
We're depleted and absolved from all the repent
Step outside and let the virtues start to unfold
I've been dying to exonerate the untold

I could try to be somebody
Let you model me in your way
Everything between is always all for you

COLOR THEORY
@colortheory
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New Souls

"An accidentally cute theme to an 80s adventure movie that never was."

More content at www.patreon.com/colortheory

Color Theory
@colortheory
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Mastered by Resonance Mastering
www.resonancemastering.com

IN MOTION
©2018 Brian Hazard (ASCAP)

Tell them I’m gone
And you don’t know where
That life is short
The world is unfair
Can’t weigh me down
I’m lighter than air

Been here too long
I’m leaving tonight
Wings on my feet
Prepare to take flight
A shooting star
A ribbon of light

It’s like a game
I have no sense of shame
The moment you blink's the moment I slip away

Cause I have to stay in motion
Climbing mountains, sailing oceans
The notion that I should stop
Ties my heart in knots
You say that you agree
Honestly?

Chasing the sun
And running from fame
I’ll fake my death
And take a new name
No two adventures
Are ever the same

You never knew
I had my eye on you
It’s easier to escape than to follow through

Cause I have to stay in motion
It’s a matter of devotion
The notion that I should stay
Wait what did you say?
You want to come with me?
Honestly?

Cause we have to stay in motion
Sailing mountains, climbing oceans
The notion of what we’ve got
Ties my tongue in knots
When galaxies collide
I’ll look you in the eye
Say I’m glad we shared the ride
Honestly.

The Majesty of Our Broken Past

In Motion

I was going for Blade Runner meets Morrissey. Did I pull it off? 🤷🏼‍♂️

Color Theory
@colortheory
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Mastered by Resonance Mastering
www.resonancemastering.com

IN SPACE, NO ONE CAN HEAR YOU CRY
©2018 Brian Hazard (ASCAP)

I am a non-critical system
Stuck on an overcritical rock
Lacking the skills, knowledge or training
To qualify as an astronaut
But could I be a passenger?
Stowaway or cargo?
Baggage?

In space no one can hear you cry
I smile and mouth the word goodbye
I’ll seek out a colony
Whichever one will take me
Take me to the stars

An object in motion stays in motion
An object at rest stays at rest
Sound waves can't travel in a vacuum
And nobody passes my empathy test
But I don’t need an audience
Loneliness beats ignorance any day

In space no one can hear you cry
A satellite to resupply
I’ll survey the galaxy
Hitchhiking from rover to rover
Take me to the stars

In space no one can hear you cry
Self-conscious of their naked eyes
If you join in my fantasy
I promise to accept you.

In Space, No One Can Hear You Cry

➤ Support on Bandcamp: http://music.colortheory.com/album/adjustments
➤ Support on iTunes: http://apple.co/1PclQYt
➤ Support on Spotify: http://spoti.fi/1Pcm2qA

From my 9th full-length album, Adjustments. The magic is back!

Color Theory
@colortheory
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Mastered by Resonance Mastering
www.resonancemastering.com

Maybe tonight
Maybe not for awhile
The odds are not that high
On any one day
But I know our luck too well
To just walk away

Maybe tonight
Maybe not for awhile
It's not gambling when you know
You're going to win
When you and I spend time
The reels start to spin

Then we're busy doing nothing
Immersed in a boring routine
The tiniest readjustment
And like a slot machine
The magic is back
We're like a slot machine
That always pays back

Maybe tonight
Maybe not for awhile
You know we'll strike it rich
Eventually
Just have a little faith
In our chemistry

And just as I start to wonder
When payoffs are far and between
We can't shake the spell we're under
Then like a slot machine
It's cherries and bells
We're like a slot machine
And everything's well

The one thing in my life
That always holds true
I hit the jackpot when
I hooked up with you.

Slot Machine

It’s a running joke in classical music circles that composers die after completing their ninth symphony. If the album is the pop music equivalent, Brian Hazard of Color Theory beat the odds. But if a recording artist is going to put out a milestone tenth album, it had better be good. 

Though the last two years were prolific, with a dozen single releases, a set of singles does not an album make. “Every great album is, in some sense, a concept album,” Hazard explains. “It tells a cohesive story with a beginning, middle, and end.” So he went back to the drawing board to rethink, rewrite, and rerecord, adding depth and dimension to the songs to create a definitive narrative. 

The result is The Majesty of Our Broken Past, a melancholy synthwave collection that captures the 80s he grew up in: wonderful, even magical at times, yet wistfully desolate.

More content at www.patreon.com/colortheory

Color Theory
@colortheory
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Mastered by Resonance Mastering
www.resonancemastering.com

The Majesty of Our Broken Past (Instrumental Edition)

In Space, No One Can Hear You Cry (Instrumental)

Hindsight is 20/20.

Listen/download ➤ https://go.colortheory.com/magesalbum

JUGGERNAUT
©2020 Brian Hazard (ASCAP)

A candid shot
A juggernaut
Crack a smile just to thicken the plot
Bet you wouldn’t hang around with
Someone you didn’t think was cool
But ice will melt
And blood will pool

A parking lot
A juggernaut
Tie my tongue in a half-Windsor knot 
Every night you're groping in the dark
For a promise I won’t make
It feels so warm
Can’t stay awake

I know I failed you, but I…
I know I left you to die
I should have screamed at the sky
That this is all I need
That this is good enough

A heavy thought
A juggernaut
Camping out on our burial plot
So I wrote a song to celebrate
What I didn't see back then
Dead to rights
Born again

COLOR THEORY

@colortheory
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Juggernaut

Listen/download ➤ https://ct.ffm.to/neonlights

The song envisions a young couple meeting in a city lit by neon lights, and attempt to capture that electric feeling of falling in love in the space of one evening. At the time, we were feeling a deep nostalgia for the days when we could go wherever we wanted, whenever we wanted.

NEON LIGHTS

Neon signs in the city
Right on time
You look so pretty

Takes me back to seventeen
When we caught a cab
We never felt so free
We didnʼt know when weʼd go home

We never had a better place to be
In the back, electric eyes they meet
Whoʼd ever thought weʼd be alone

Itʼs a late night on the road for us
Feeling so high canʼt get enough
Street lights burn
Will we ever learn
We got no plans just you and me
Cruising right down the 43
Those street lights burn
Will the world still turn

The sun goes down behind the waves
Can you hear me now when I say
It takes me back to

Sneaking out at seventeen
When we caught a cab
We never felt so free
We didnʼt know when weʼd go home

We never had a better place to be
In the back, electric eyes they meet
We never thought weʼd be alone


COLOR THEORY
@colortheory
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Neon Lights

Somehow I never outgrew the 80s.

Download five of my best songs for free at https://colortheory.com

Color Theory

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