A raw voice memo entirely self written in under an hour and recorded in one take during a breakdown from my hospital bed, while dealing with chronic illness, severe pain, and a mental health spiral. Melody was created exclusively from my voice and emotions. No studio. No instruments. Just me, my voice, my pure, raw emotions, and everything I’ve been feeling for years that I finally found the courage to say. 
This is Makeupless Heart.
Here are the very words that kept me functioning and alive… they’ve already changed one life due to its resonance and vulnerability, I truly hope they can change yours too! Thank you so much for listening! 

V1: 
The clock was set an hour ahead 
Daylight savings, confined to a bed
Passage of time as fast as spilling wine, 
My brain diminished in size four fucking times 
Degradation of me compromised
In the mirror I see a ghostly spy, 
Gone in color, trying to find the brushes to fix… 

Pre Chorus: 
If I turned off my makeupless heart 
Would my care resuscitate me with a spark?
Would turning off the bright light my dark? 

Chorus: 
The empathy that’s within my veins, the love overflowing within me 
The hunters and foxes are stealing my youth 
Fish stuck on the line you can’t let loose 
The nightmarish echoes, that scar me from truth 
If I turn them off, will my dreams come true? 
Or will I lose all point of view, and strip everything that was my glue 

V2: 
The past tense turned to present tense 
Metastasizing my depleted head 
Looking through contacts, a viewpoint that can’t be hid 
The bear that saved its cub rips off my flesh
Verifying the reality in my knotted head 
The song that was irrelevant, years later gained recognition 
Isn’t that what led to gunshots in the head? 
No one listens, until lowering you in the grave bed. 
Scared shitless, wrapping their mind around any clues that led. 

Chorus: 
The apathy that’s within my veins, turned to ice from bloody hands of chivalry. 
Dinosaurs reversed extinction just for me 
Being left in the world I’m held captive in by my fucking feet
The nightmarish screams, that deformed my proof
That existence is more than an immortal shattered roof 
I turned them off, my dreams never came true
I lost all point of view, I stripped everything that was my glue

Outro: 
I put makeup on a makeupless heart.. 
I put makeup on a heart that’s torn apart.

Tags: singer-songwriter, raw vocals, folk, emotional, voice memo, chronic illness, mental health, depression, suicidal ideation, grief, poetry, alternative, lupus, disabled, heartbroken

Makeupless Heart (Voice Memo)

Makeupless Heart (Voice Memo) OUT NOW! 

Hi, I’m Amber Thompson and I’m 23 years old from Southern California! I’m a chronically ill and bedridden singer-songwriter and poet whose lyrics are my lungs and only coping mechanism. I write all my songs from my hospital bed, using nothing but my notes app, voice memos, and a body that’s constantly in agonizing pain, but still fights everyday to create art to help me survive. I write lyrics that many others can relate to, but some songwriters may be too afraid to say out loud. 

Everything you hear on this page was written and created in a matter of 45 minutes to a few hours. No instruments, no studio, just pure, raw emotions transformed into song. I compose melodies with my voice alone, channeling grief, desire, chronic illness, mental health spirals, trauma, sexual assault, heartbreak, religious struggles amongst suffering, and love so powerful it can awaken and restructure someone else’s nervous system permanently. My songs are made to be felt in the bones and heart, by a voice that makes you feel seen and less alone. That’s why I’m releasing voice memos with my raw vocals and no instruments: I’m not chasing trends. I’m pulling truth out of the void and helping people understand themselves better. 

Some of my influences musically and lyrically are: Taylor Swift (especially her Folklore, Evermore, The Tortured Poets Department eras), Lana Del Rey, Hozier, Fiona Apple, Florence + the Machine, Ethel Cain, Julien Baker, Gracie Abrams, Noah Kahan, Phoebe Bridgers, etc, and many years of unspoken pain, illness, trauma, and hardship. But most of all, I’m influenced by what hasn’t been said yet, including the topics millions silently carry everyday. The things that live beyond genres and inside existential crises, grief, and the dark corners no one else dares to touch lyrically. 

I’ve written over 30+ fully finished songs (and counting) that span alternative to country, folk to indie, singer-songwriter breakdowns and acoustic ballads, with many songs written that don’t seem to fit in an existing genre because they’re creating one. My debut track that’s out now, “Makeupless Heart (Voice Memo)”, is a raw voice memo recorded during a breakdown. No production. Just pure heartbreak and feminine rage. Its vulnerability and resonance already changed one life. It could possibly change yours.

I write and sing not just for myself, but for survivors everywhere. My future vision includes starting a foundation for chronic illness and mental health support, and donating proceeds from certain songs to suicide prevention, sexual assault healing, and invisible illness advocacy. Because music should do more than entertain, it should rescue and heal. 

If you’re an artist, label, or collaborator who hears what I’m doing and feels it in your chest.. please reach out to me, let’s talk. Because I’m just getting started, and can’t wait to see how far this music can reach.

For labels, artists, producers, or anyone who feels this in their chest…: 
📩 amberthompsonmusic@gmail.com
📷 @ambertthompsonn

Amber Thompson

Pinned to spotlight