Greetings!

This song is my submission for the 2024 NGUAC Knockout Round. This time, its another Melancholy Hill entry, and kind of an experimental demo of a new style and feel of MH, that is more visceral, brutal, and unforgiving. So, without further ado, lets get into the analysis.

The birth of this piece actually builds off from the drum loop in the intro you are hearing. I've had this really cool 7/8 beat idea for quite a while now, and i figured it would be a perfect base for a story i wanted to tell. Loneliness. Personally speaking, odd time signatures are usually convey a sense of epicness, and combined with the emotional strings, this is a piece that highlights feelings of fear, anxiety, and hopelessness.

I wanted to take my guitar playing to the next level in this piece. Particulary in the mid-section, i wanted to get really technical, and experimented with a good friend of mine, natural harmonics. I used this technique in a bunch of my songs, but now i wanted to push it even further by playing dissonant harmonics, in rapid succesion. I also wanted to craft a guitar tone that was upfront and agressive, and i think it comes together beautifully.

I did want to record vocals for this originally, but due to time constraints, i want really able to, though i might consider making a vocal version of this. Of course, its not unusual from me to make instrumentals, but i like to think the reason that this song doesnt have vocals is that because the song itself, is alone. It has no one to talk to, no words to speak, no ideas to discuss. What it still manages to emit from itself, is the inside of an abandoned soul.

Its funny to think about it, because i was pretty much also feeling lonely and isolated while i was making this, sitting in my room all day, and focusing on getting this song complete.

Ill hope it makes for a nice listen.

Keep climbing.