Before It's Time

Smokey Mountain

I hide
From your words like knives
Scorpion sting in your eyes
I’m always watching you leave
When I need you
My love
Everything’s never enough
I keep your amused with my sadness
Pretending to hurt when I caught you in a lie

I won’t cry out loud
Standing alone in the mess that you left me with
I feel your gravity
Pulling me down again
Pulling me
Into your arms

Free
Free as a bird in a storm
If I ever find my way home
I don’t believe you will leave the light on
My love
I pay in pain for my sins
The devil in you always wins
You lose my love like a chain to bind me with

I won’t cry out loud
Standing alone in the mess that you left me with
I feel your gravity
Pulling me down again
Pulling me
Into your arms

Gravity
Pulls me closer
Gravity
Pulls me closer
Every time
I suddenly realize
All the love and hate
Feel the same inside
Our darkest stars collide

I won’t cry out loud
Standing alone in the mess that you left me with
I feel your gravity
Pulling me down again
Pulling me
Into your arms
Into your arms
Into your arms

Gravity

Better manz

Lyrics 

[Verse]
Dark nights the lights so bright
Whispers call me in the night
Promises of joy so near
Masking all the pain and fear

[Verse 2]
Chasing dreams I couldn't keep
Lost myself in pleasures deep
Family's cries just faded sound
Shadows pull me further down

[Chorus]
Sweet ecstasy I held so tight
Made me feel so high so bright
Lost my way couldn't see the fall
Addiction's grip it took it all

[Verse 3]
Once a man with morals true
Now I'm someone I never knew
Turned my back on love and kin
Pleasure's grasp it pulled me in

[Bridge]
Embarrassment I faced the shame
Love so close to slipping away
Near-death brush brought me back
Fighting hard against the knack

[Chorus]
Sweet ecstasy I held so tight
Made me feel so high so bright
Lost my way couldn't see the fall
Addiction's grip it took it all

Written by Bailey Greenwood 

Sweet Temptation's Fall

Alright, so this album, Silent Roads, is one of those deeply haunting, intimate collections that takes you right into the heart of lost love and longing. Imagine an album that feels like wandering down empty roads at night, where every song is like a memory coming back to life, even though it’s painful. The songs all have this soft, slow, acoustic feel, with instruments like piano, violin, and especially the guitar, which just aches with every note. It’s like the guitar itself is grieving, you know?

Each track really explores the weight of what’s left behind after a relationship falls apart—not just the sadness, but the regret, the unanswered questions, and that bittersweet “what if” that never goes away. The lyrics are so raw and direct, they kind of hit you with all the things we usually try to bury or avoid. Some tracks are about missed moments and things unsaid, while others are more about finally letting go, even though you’re not ready.

It’s all told from this really vulnerable perspective, with baritone vocals that feel weary and deeply reflective, like he’s just sitting there, talking to himself or maybe to her ghost. There are songs that mention memories of shared laughter, promises that couldn’t last. It’s incredibly poetic but painfully relatable, especially if you’ve ever gone through a breakup that left you with a sense of unfinished business.

I’d say Silent Roads is less about moving on and more about understanding that some love stays with you, no matter how far you go. It’s one of those albums where you don’t just listen; you feel it. Perfect for late nights when you just want to be alone with your thoughts.

only if you stayed

meka, the musical project of Melissa Lingo, blends introspective indie folk with intricate fingerpicking influenced by Nick Drake and Vashti Bunyan. A self-taught multi-instrumentalist, meka explores themes of grief, hope, and nature. Raised in a mountain town dedicated to astronomy, her music reflects a fascination with the cosmos and ecology, shaped by travel and solitude. Her songs turn life’s pain into ethereal beauty, like candlelight in dark corners.

Listen:
https://idol-io.ffm.to/temperance

Connect with meka https://www.instagram.com/singingblackhole/

meka - Temperance

Recorded live as part of the Artifacts Live Performance Film. You can watch the full performance here: https://youtu.be/vI9Jl-s5Mbw

Guitarist: Chris Brambley 

Written and performed by Emma Miller
Sound Engineered & Mixed by Lucas Mendes
Performed at Newcastle Civic Centre

Downstairs (Live from Newcastle Civic Centre)

HOPE - mit Polaride - Wohnzimmeraufnahme

Reflection of sins

Behind Appearance

I work with machines the way some people work with memory, shaping what’s already there, not to control it, but to understand it. The tools I use are made of code, but the intent behind them is completely human.

red of the gate began as a fictional band. A name I could hide behind. But over time, that fiction became the most honest expression I had. It stopped being a mask and started becoming a mirror, a place to reflect the moments we don’t have words for, the spaces between emotions that feel too raw or too distant to name.

I call what I do synthwrighting. Not because it sounds futuristic, but because it feels accurate. I don’t write songs, I uncover them. I collaborate with algorithms the way a sculptor chips away at stone. Sometimes the machine surprises me. Sometimes it just listens. But what emerges is always shaped by instinct, memory, and feeling.

These songs aren’t performances. They’re echoes. Sonic fragments of questions I don’t always know how to ask. I’m not here to offer answers or compete with noise, I’m here to slow things down enough that something deeper can be heard.

red of the gate is not a band. It’s a signal. A reminder. Something you’re meant to feel before you understand.

And if you’re still listening, that means you're not done yet.