In A Gleam is my sophomore album, comprising 10 tracks, released on August 5, 2025.
This project explores the ways we treat one another, indulging in themes surrounding the dynamics of our interpersonal relationships, that have the power to not only impact our own lives but also change or further age-old, societal dogmas/stigmas.
The album is named after the song “In A Gleam” that is featured on the record. The track urges the listener to let go of any fears and live life with confidence in themselves. Embrace each day, and don’t take your loved ones and good friends for granted, because we never know a good thing till it's gone. Diving beyond this meaning, this title also symbolizes how quickly life can go by while we still cling to our frets.
Within In A Gleam, I have further solidified my style, which still looks to ever-evolve, and within it, you can grasp more of my growing confidence in both the creative and technical side. Excited for more future milestones!

In A Gleam - Album

Look upon them vast mountains trailing!
Up on the palm of our sweet Lord’s rapture.
Wan wraiths of fog hither and yon as they choose…

They’ll trek ‘long these old ranges; giants of infinite ages!
They always win against time, while we, for all time, lose.

Hear tell how that blue sea’s wailing!
Waves of deep hue plead to the blue yonder.
As if with arms outstretched she’ll cry to the colossus sky…

Oh, seize how the clouds are grazing!
One moment here, another gone.
They wait till our Shepherd bleeds day to dusk,
Then ready for the news of dawn…

See how this old globe will still turn without us!
For, no man can stop the sun from rising,
Nor, stop her drifting to sleep…

Watch with what indifference another crescent weeps!
And life carries on as if nothing had been,
Through parlous wars, through peace…

Fate will come, it is she who reaps,
Yeah, even without us, another crescent weeps…

Peer up high at the redwoods towering!
Their canopy shapes a shielding dome.
Many lumbermen killed their spirit well nigh,
Yet their spirit still returns to roam.

The earth always takes back what's hers!
So, she’ll find a way to take us back, also.
Oh, she sure is much more keen than you and I know…

So, see how this old globe will still turn without us!
For, no man can stop the sun from rising,
Nor, stop her drifting to sleep…

Watch with what indifference another crescent weeps!
And life carries on as if nothing had been,
Through parlous wars, through peace…

Fate will come, it is she who reaps,
Yeah, even without us another crescent weeps.

Even without us another crescent weeps…

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Released on 5 August 2025
Lyrics & music: Margarita Byk
Recording: Dave Sherman, Margarita Byk
Mixing:
Stereo: Dave Sherman, Margarita Byk
Binaural/Surround Sound: Margarita Byk
Mastering: Marc Rivera
Guitars, bass, synths & percussion: Margarita Byk

Cover Artwork: Margarita Byk

Without Us

Walking through windows;
My life is never enough.
You meld into your bluff,
Into its barren backdrop.
Maybe if you love yourself a little less,
You and I will steer clear of this mess… 

Hoist up your sails, guess where the wind blows!
And if all else fails, ask time if heaven knows -
If maybe, there’d be a light outside the tunnel,
If maybe, my good would fight against all the rubble...

So, hoist up your sails, guess where the wind blows.
So, hoist up your sails, guess where the wind blows.

Sinking into shadows,
I make myself a remark:
“These ice floes of flaws are growing stark.”
Though buds of doubt are hard to uproot,
Like a cold wind on a winter’s night,
Our strength of hope shall moot:
 
Hoist up your sails, guess where the wind blows!
And if all else fails, ask time if heaven knows!
Bet maybe there’d be a light outside the tunnel,
If maybe, our good would fight against all the rubble!!

So, hoist up your sails, guess where the wind blows,
So, hoist up your sails, guess where the wind blows!!

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Released on 5 August 2025
Lyrics & music: Margarita Byk
Recording: Marc Rivera, Margarita Byk
Mixing:
Stereo: Marc Rivera, Margarita Byk
Binaural/Surround Sound: Margarita Byk
Mastering: Marc Rivera
Guitars, bass & synths: Margarita Byk
Drums: Scott Rodberg

Where the Wind Blows

Bug eyes of lights from passing cars,
Misshapen by ever-changing views,
From under these distant stars.
Some have their world defined,
Lucky to have been born with a strong foundation. 
Some bear a cross too hard on their back,
Go out like light as their last bet on liberation…

I’ll relieve my calloused hands,
They’ve plowed through sod of my years.
And still, beneath me, I didn’t raise much dust;
A tragic case blazed by many tears.
It’s painfully hard and confusing,
These cycles of mistakes and constant losing. 
Trudging uphill, fog makes it tough to see -
a shelter in a twisted place where I’d be free!

I cue up a melody for my last ride,
She’ll tell me if there’s worth in the tears I’ve cried!
I’ll sing the melody to my goodbye tune,
Lending an ear before all is gone!
I’ll free my ghost under rays of a new dawn…

I’ll find a desolate mount of wasteful moments,
Spent with people who’ll wound up tearing secret veils,
Shielding my eyes from jarring truths.
How time makes us wonder,
Standing under the colors of a young goner.
To who, without much reason why,
Life, swiftly, granted grace to die!

Mm, hm, hm…

I!—Burning all bridges rather than walk ‘em!
Took a look in hopes, to meet a stranger’s eye.
Figured, in them there’d be faith’s steady ground,
But nobody’s around. 
Only crossroads like crosses on my way…
I swallowed what was left unsaid, soon it’ll be said,
For everyone starts to listen to you when you’re dead… 

Making one last glance at the world I gotta love,
I’m wishing dearly there’s a kind world for me above.
The wind hums the melody to this violet night, 
And I lend an ear before all is gone.
Oh, I freed my ghost under rays of a new dawn…

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Released on 5 August 2025
Lyrics & music: Margarita Byk
Recording: Marc Rivera, Margarita Byk
Mixing:
Stereo: Marc Rivera, Margarita Byk
Binaural/Surround Sound: Margarita Byk
Mastering: Marc Rivera
Guitars, bass & synths: Margarita Byk
Drums: Scott Rodberg

Cover Artwork: Margarita Byk

Confessions of a Suicide

I found the only way to ground yourself, 
Is to take a shot within the dark.
Cause at the end of each bleak tunnel,
I saw things weren’t as stark.

To let the darkness shroud you,
And watch time silt through your hands,
Only leads to more disarray,
And to derailing reprimands.

Does it not wreck your vision?
Standing in one place this way–
and staring at the nothingness,
Every nighttime and every day?

Aren’t you tired yet?
Hoping for somebody to pull you out?
If you don’t try to reach the light, 
Then with the blackness you shall stay…

You dwell on whether to be,
But you must take a stance now; give life meaning!
Cause only then you’ll be unbound,
Will feel less blinded and feel more free.

Here, you’re with a still small voice,
That makes a coward out of you.
But compared to what you’d lose,
A bit of grit saves you from the blues!

Cause, does it not wreck your vision?
Standing in one place this way–
and staring at the nothingness,
Every nighttime and every day?

Aren’t you tired yet?
Hoping for somebody to pull you out?
If you don’t try to reach the light,
Then with the blackness you shall stay!

If you don’t try to reach the light,
Then with the blackness you will stay… 

You will stay…

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Released on 5 August 2025
Lyrics & music: Margarita Byk
Recording: Marc Rivera, Margarita Byk
Mixing:
Stereo: Marc Rivera, Margarita Byk
Binaural/Surround Sound: Margarita Byk
Mastering: Marc Rivera
Guitars, mandolin, bass, synths & percussion: Margarita Byk
Drums: Scott Rodberg

Cover Artwork: Margarita Byk

Reach The Light

This is an instrumental track 💜
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Released on 5 August 2025
Recording: Margarita Byk
Mixing: Margarita Byk
Stereo & Binaural/Surround Sound: Margarita Byk
Mastering: Marc Rivera
Guitars & Synths: Margarita Byk

Artwork: Margarita Byk

All Alone

There they go, there they go again.
An itch must’ve nocked in, and they’ve sewn a plan.
Time let them build cities upon what has ought to stay,
Now they wanna set up a ladder to the sky,
but there ain’t nothing left there anyway.

‘Cause, we don’t have a sun!
She’s gone; she doesn’t wanna see us,
Sad your life has only begun! -

while we don’t have a sun!
She’s gone; she will never forgive us,
But, man, we’ve grown too fond-
of dark days with no fuss,
so, it don’t bother us!

There they go, tellin’ me what to do.
With their fixed opinion, yeah,
no hoard of value accepts the new.
Don’t start a riot!
My life is goin’ so nice and you will never buy it!
Child, don’t you start nockin’ at my door…

‘Cause, we don’t have a sun!
She’s gone; she doesn’t wanna see us,
Sad your life has only begun! -

while we don’t have a sun!
She’s gone; she will never forgive us,
But, man, we’ve grown too fond-
of dark days with no fuss,
so, it don’t bother us!

‘Cause, we don’t have a sun!
She’s gone, she’s gone, she’s gone!
Sad your life has only begun, ah…

‘Cause, we don’t have a sun,
She’s gone; she doesn’t wanna see us,
Sad your life has only begun.. -

while we don’t have a sun!
She’s gone; she will never forgive us,
But, man, we’ve grown too fond-
of dark days with no fuss,
so, it don’t bother us!

Of blind days with no fuss,
so, it don’t bother us!

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Released on 5 August 2025
Lyrics & music: Margarita Byk
Recording: Marc Rivera, Margarita Byk
Mixing:
Stereo: Marc Rivera, Margarita Byk
Binaural/Surround Sound: Margarita Byk
Mastering: Marc Rivera
Guitars, bass & synths: Margarita Byk
Drums: Scott Rodberg

Cover Artwork: Margarita Byk

We Don't Have a Sun

Hello ❤️ I’m Margarita, and I’m a rock musician, lyricist, producer, and mixer from Southern California! My music encompasses various topics: Internal struggle, self-growth, and the endless navigation of adulthood. Overall, I largely center my songwriting on the imperfections of life and how we tend to escape or accept them, as well as share other “miscellaneous” thoughts I have about this world in general through it.
Furthermore, I practice Binaural Sound mixing! (Spatial Audio), which I incorporate heavily in my autogenous musical style — Binaural Rock (Binaural sound is an audio mixing technique that creates the illusion that the instruments are moving around you in a 3D-like mode). I consider myself quite an audio tech nerd, and I love to learn/experiment with different instruments in my compositions as well 😊
I began taking music seriously in 2021, when I was 16 years old, when I started uploading my music via acoustic demos to YouTube! I then soon decided to take the next step, and in August of 2022, I ventured into a recording studio, ready to record my first fully-arranged single “I Can Hear the Flowers Laugh,” which was released early in October of that year! Since then, I released two albums: A 5-track EP titled “Ocean of Life,” and recently a 15-track LP titled “Jejune,” along with some more individual songs. 
Moreover, when I’m not working on music, I like to express myself creatively through other interests such as art, and I really love to read :))

So I’m excited for where my journey is going to take me, and I hope you'll come along for the ride!

Without Us

Margarita Mantis