best of 2023

Rain (Boldly in the Pretend) (feat. Jazz D'Arcy)

https://soundcloud.com/wintercolor

On January 21st, 2023, over 300 musicians and visual artists challenged themselves to create something in only 18 hours. Visual artists had to create a unique album cover & its supporting graphics, and musicians were limited to no less than 50 seconds and no more than 70 seconds for their songs; in short, a speedrun. The event encouraged creatives to think outside the box, picking their ideas apart in order to keep only the essentials. At the finish line, we received some of the most exciting tracks on a FORM compilation to date.

In the colors of each album cover and between the notes of each song are reflections of us— the artists. To leave pieces of ourselves *out* in lieu of a time constraint isn't easy, but it allows us to conclude what's at the center of what we create. Creativity, no matter how bare-bones or how complex & nuanced it is, is something nobody can ever take away.

All proceeds from any% will be going to SpecialEffect, a charity working to make video games accessible to those with physical disabilities.

SpecialEffect: https://www.specialeffect.org.uk/
FORM: artbyform.com/
Cover by Certly: https://twitter.com/imcertly

Buy/Stream for Charity

wintercolor - covered in rose

a promise is a promise <3

lyrics
----------------
i think i wasted too much time
chasing memories
not enough time spent
between you and me
the conversations we have
aren't all that great
gotten lost in the things
that we used to say
in the back of the classroom
more than affection
even though we met last june
we took a hike
now we're trippin' over the rocks
i skinned both of my knees

after that, you left not much to say
don't take it back, just stay off in your lane
you couldn't handle the pressure
so you left for 16 days
is it possible it was just a mistake?
that's impossible, i was stuck on the train
you said to pack it up, that's when i got to
thinking about where did we go wrong?

and how far we fell
got me caught up in the details
caught up in the details
you got me thinkin' about
how far we fell
got me caught up in the details
caught up in the details
caught up in the details

it's not too late
we're still okay
we're still okay
it's not too late
we're still okay
we're still okay

caught up in the details
it's not too late
(we're still okay)
caught up in the details

DETAILS (acoustic)

@acloudyskye

fig i. If I would know you, would you know me?

Lyrics:
Were you there at the start
When the night was a part of a window
I had seen through over and over again
Every moment I’ve asked
Is this happening now
My heart has never quite sounded so loud

(Hey-a-sha-ma, Oh, My Desire!)

Hide away from this I try
Storm uncovering focused eyes
Hear your names in terms of suns
Shouting out til I was done

And it hit me all at once
Across all that came from dust
Into where every river runs
I will wait for you to go

Is this it?
Is this it?
Wait for this
Oh

(Wherever you are)

Just follow me my dear
Despite all I feared
Bright eyes stare clear
I know you’re almost here

---------------------------

Cmaj, 140bpm

As If You Understand What's Going On

Download

As If You Understand What's Going On (ft. acloudyskye)

https://ffm.to/n2bg7w3

cover art by noah greene https://temberl.in/

it didn't have to be like this
_________________________________
(do you remember me?)

hold it close to you
broken bowed a new
i thought this was life
watch the thread unwind

we were in zion that summer
i was still trying to breathe
watch it corrode the isomers
everything i couldn't keep

all the nights that we spent being young
the copper rocks under our feet
the pastures never felt so wrong
up in flames your favorite evergreen

pull the needle through
laces lorn the center

i promise i wasn't crying
there was just smoke in my eyes
holding you until the morning
i'd fall in and out of the fire
wreathed in hollow ivory
christened collows bedaubing 

and i saw your body covered in roses 
and i started screaming, nobody noticed
the locket you gave me thread intertwined
tearing taut at the seams when it started unwinding 
i fell out the trunk of your dad's four wheel drive 
and we laughed it off when we called it a night
through the laurels and brushweeds we walked side by side
god you were so pretty even when we were crying 
cus' the rust started falling i ran out of time 
watch the world invert into infrared light 
lying lithe on the duff dying embers dissolving 
the smoke in my lungs couldn't stop me from calling your name
but i, (2x)

laurel

@arkenesis @clayekea @achorda @dearestalyx @wtrclrmusic

13 writers putting pen to paper, 65 musicians composing pieces inspired by their writing, and 26 visual artists tying everything together with a cover illustration. From April 23rd to May 13th, 2023, these 104 creatives came together with one goal: to tell a story. The result amounted to thirteen beautiful tracks, rich with emotion, excitement, and wonder.

Stories take on infinitely many forms. A child's drawing. A home-cooked meal. A recount of the day given by someone returning home to their spouse. They do not have to be written, nor spoken with any amount of poetry or decorative language; they simply exist. Here's to the stories we tell. Whether written, drawn, or sang, whether a fantastic fable or a solemn look into the human experience, they all carry weight. We have no greater obligation than to simply tell them in whatever way we know how. 

All proceeds from Storybook: Chapter 2 will be donated to Active Minds, an organization supporting mental health awareness and education for young adults. 

Active Minds: https://www.activeminds.org/
FORM: https://artbyform.com/
Cover by SKYZA. & fluffbeak: https://twitter.com/DARKZAAAA, https://twitter.com/fluffbeak
Story by euphee: https://linktr.ee/iameuphorian
Read the full story: https://storybook2.artbyform.com/

	
step by step, feel the tremble and earth as you fall to the ground
the lack of light in the air really hurts when you're down
and the quaking that you feel when you can't hear a sound

not even fireflies can guide you to home
crush the dandelions under your feet when you roam
wanna go to the stars but they're blocked by the smoke
these raindrops you feel make you miss all the snow
but how can we fly when we feel all alone
need a friend or a guide to match with my tone
as we look here to shine and light up the roads
so we say goodbye to the night that grew old

so you cover your ears and tremble
you're risking the years to catch the stars
the dark of night creates a semblance
a familiar room inside your heart
you look towards the forest and ease your worries
you don't have to wait until it's dark
so lift up your head, no need to hurry
'cause then you'll forget who you really are

step after step you tremble
under the sun of morn
you cherish the seconds
don't wanna regret this
time that you spent right here before
and when the cold night enters
i hope you will find shelter
just need a star to wish
upon when the clouds all drift
right down to freezing winter floor

View/Download/Stream

arkenesis, clayekea, achorda, dearest alyx & wtrclr - ethertail

Million and Godspeed are the first steps into my new era! One filled with triumph, victories, reconciliations, and blistering joys. They are born of friendship and love, as well as lived experiences after seeing them through the windows of disease. Thank you for listening.

Million: Emaj, 131 BPM
Godspeed: Dmaj, 83 BPM

Additional production on Million by @paarkdtc

Special thanks to Sadler, Brinn, Noah, Jacky, Ivy, and Jack

Million

Just take me away to another place
we could run away from the noises
Don't have to worry about me
I'll be back to you

We will all drown in the lifeless abyss
I see the flowers liquefying
No need to wait again
Find my way to neverland

vocal from Aurora Sky
https://on.soundcloud.com/j1Dtt

take me to the neverland

Behaved
https://soundcloud.com/thewayibehaved

Alva Gracia
https://soundcloud.com/notmadebyalva

Taf
@tafathorik

Alva Gracia presents Behaved & Taf - take me home

https://ffm.to/bleith 

cover art by noah greene https://temberl.in/

i'll be the first

pronounced "bləith, or blayeth"
_________________________________
guess it's been a long time
i don't even know
nothing left but splintered bones
and broken hope
walking down the road
we grew up on
choking on the roses 
but they're grown and gone

inhaling erosion i'm sinking i'm floating that
solemn corrosion i'll swallow the hope and i'll 
hold onto something and someone will hear the 
implosion aeolian sediments blowing away

maybe i won't miss those white halls and those silos
and your wide eyes

(do you remember me?)

all the pain went when you kissed me
but it was back when i woke up
winters always warmer when you're with me
caught a cross to call my own
in the inverted lattice beneath
i was just trying to calm you down
'cause this summer i'll be sixteen 
and i still wonder how
covered in clovers and i’m six feet
under now five leaves aren't enough
this september i’ll be leaving
throw the photos on the ground i should have known
i should have known

slipping through the cracks i'm calling it back on you
shadows shifting elisions i'm still in your arms
cosmic collisions it's crumbling falling through
scaffold splitting derisions i'm sealing the hearth

inhaling erosion i'm sinking i'm floating that
solemn corrosion i'll swallow the hope and i'll 
hold onto something and someone will hear the 
implosion aeolian sediments blowing away

one to many times i let myself slide
resin in the hide and it's hopeless
summit through the sides i thought of better ties
brethren tiled the pine on a pulpit
covered in the sines i coveted the lies
nolled up on a lyre a forfeit
lauded once or twice a strath that lead the line
straffed it to your silage and sold it

if you'd just lie awake 
i won't shear no shame

save me 
break me
save me
chain me

all the pain went when you kissed me
but it was back when i woke up
winters always warmer when you're with me
caught a cross to call my own
in the inverted lattice beneath
i was just trying to calm you down
'cause this summer i'll be sixteen 
throw the photos on the ground i should have known
i should have known

guess it's been a long time
i don't even know
nothing left but splintered bones
and broken hope
walking down the road
we grew up on
choking on the roses 
but they're grown and gone

bleith

Follow Valo.:
Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/valotunes
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3gR4jYtQM6RcnTaxwl7g4h?si=xIUzvDGUT-qzXctGe_whIw
Twitter: https://twitter.com/valotunes
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/valotunes/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@valotunes

Follow SILKENWOOD:
Soundcloud: @wearesilkenwood
Twitter: twitter.com/WEARESILKENWOOD
Instagram: www.instagram.com/wearesilkenwood/
Web: www.silkenwood.us

Valo. - Nature

photo by @chewy

🦊

This green Earth can't hold me
I'm folding myself in paper
My clothes tattered
You're water, and scattered
See you, your problems

somewhere i could never be; someone i could never become

music video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4DwV8J9wzA
writing & production: Jane Remover
mixing: Kayla Reagan
mastering: Hector Vega
cover art: Brendon Burton

Census Designated

Buy/Save

Lyrics:

We danced on sand dunes till our legs hurt
But we'd do it again and again
I would count all the stars in our lifetime
Just give me the word, so

Come again and heal each other
Seeking help from one another
Beams of light in moonlit summer
Coil together to recover

You should know I love you
You should know I love you
You should know I love you
You should know I love you

A burst, a moon, a bone, a light
A race, a drop, a rain, a time
A dance, a smile , a sea, a laugh
A tear, a shine, a life, alive

So many threads between us
Link our hands in the warm air

Come again and heal each other
Beams of light in moonlit summer

(A burst, a moon, a bone, a light
A race, a drop, a rain, a time
A dance, a smile , a sea, a laugh
A tear, a shine, a life, alive)

You Won't Have To Do It Alone

The girls realize that navigating adulthood is an individual responsibility.

Wallsocket

Good luck final girl

Little Blue

Little Blue (feat. Brandi Carlile)

"i KNOW this is all you've ever worked for, but what about ME ???"

performed by self discovery
produced by self discovery
drums by @digitalreject
photography & visuals by flatbeek
-- -- -- -- - -- -- -- --
lyrics:

seven years of sweat and tears
came to a head yesterday
you got a call last night
said you should fly out in may
whether you make it or you break it
that's the game you should play
call and say that you're on your way to find me

because you know you have a shot
you'll do whatever it takes
you're hearing comfort from the sky
it says you're gonna be great
now there's no reason to be shy
you know you just can't wait
to make the most of when you turn 19

i'll stay down south
i'm taking one for the team
and we'll figure it out
before the end of the season
you'll take a bow
i guess it's more than it seemed
i still don't know what you mean

but you've been giving me star signs
that light me up just like the night sky
and though i'm glad we shared good times
it won't be long 'till you're starting out the door
cause the world's been waiting for your
star signs

seven years of sweat and tears
have found their way to the spine
of loving innocence
the terror of what i've called mine
this can't be good for you
to panic and deceive
oh, but i don't think you cared
about crossing the line

so i'll call it as i see it
you push yourself to be overwhelmed
crack at your defences
and forget what the scene is, oh well
pull at the strings until you recognize
the fiend you've become
oh what fun
defy the odds of what you seldom call home

aren't you so proud ?
the question sounds so depraved
but i'll turn my mouth
away from words i could say
am i allowed
to ask for another way
than how you said it to me ?

i'll stay down south
i'm taking one for the team
and we'll figure it out
before the end of the season
you'll take a bow
i guess it's more than it seemed

but you've been giving me star signs
that light me up just like the night sky
and though i'm glad we shared good times
it won't be long 'till you're starting out the door
cause the world's been waiting for your
star signs

and i'll fade away
like a puddle in the sun
evaporate
while you're starting your new life
without second thoughts
of the life you leave
just the life you'll lead
and it's made in a way
i get nothing at all

you leave me nothing at all !

but you've been giving me star signs
that light me up just like a wildfire
and though i'm glad we shared good times
it won't be long 'till you're starting out the door
cause the world's been waiting for your
star signs !

stream !

star signs ! (last night home !)

Follow Ali Alkhazraji
@iamalimusic1
https://open.spotify.com/artist/2p6NsR6YwNYPI7Wf2ll4d0
instagram.com/ali_alkazrji/

Follow arkenesis:
@arkenesis
https://open.spotify.com/artist/2G106bor9X7yOegJcIZmoo?si=YOXIY20IQImzPnGIWw_98Q
instagram.com/arkenesismuze/

Ali Alkhazraji & arkenesis - Iris

@cutewavelets

The second installment to the AMFLARA series gave artists the challenge of creating a song from start to finish, all in a matter of nine days. To say that these artists are talented is an understatement, and we hand-picked the best 26 tracks by 30 unique artists that best reflect our motto of "creative anarchy". Encompassing a wide range of genres from UK Garage to Brazilian Funk to a song that confused basically all the judges, this compilation has something for everybody. The creativity flourishing between these songs cannot be described by just words, as it's an experience that you need to hear for yourself.

FOLLOW AMFLARA:
https://soundcloud.com/amflara
twitter.com/AMFLARAorg
www.instagram.com/amflaraorg/
open.spotify.com/user/31fhy2k65dzmqwu36n3fpu4rm6sq

COVER ARTWORK BY:
@darcysavisa @ruxel-373679160 @casualalty @soulstar0

a red panda - Despondency

Released as part of @wearesilkenwood's Sleepover Vol. 5: LIGHTS OUT!

@heyitsnoveci @freezigd @maae-ko @yyankyyy @alowofficial

Lyrics:

All:
let the dreams begin

yanky, Noveci, lillybug & Freezi ツ:
tell me
are you home
tell me
should i be
going away
cuz im stuck in a wild one
like a rock on a wild run

Noveci & Freezi ツ:
the river stream flows
even without me

i hope you get there safely
these dreams have taken over me

drowning in silence
why won't the clouds ever turn away from me

i open my eyelids
but now i can't blink, i start to overthink

i trip right over my words
the needles sink in, it hurts
i don't know
this shit keeps getting worse

lillybug & Noveci:
bring my thoughts
to the forefront of the scene
letting go of every regret
that i've held so close to my chest

let it out
to the world, although obscene
climbing out of the ravine

please god dammit please won't somebody WAKE...ME...UP?!

lillybug:
(WAKE ME UP!)

Noveci:
SOMEONE WAKE ME UP!

tell me
are you home
because
i need to be out of here

someone get me out of here
cause i don't know if i can last any longer
so please wake me up
from this dream

reverie syndrome - a perilous, endless dream cycle (can't wake up)

Creature of love and happiness and violence and destruction

personal acc for flareinthesky, view my music here VV

best of 2023

simpleflareon