Coloringbooks

This song was made a year before Sophie even released Product tbf (OG tweet is deleted but this was in response to her post about the session) I think Melanie had the concept/title already going into that session about washing your mouth out with soap— and then Kyle Shearer created the bubble drop based off that. A moment

Welcome to the forum! Just so you know, there's only one real version of Dragon's Blood that leaked

Which part? I don't hear it yet

There's a Björk sample? which song?

Reminder that this is a rumour with no credible source to back it up. Milk and Cookies originally being about poisoning her boyfriend is true— she mentioned it in an interview and actually described it as "like a weird sequel" of Dead to Me

I just remembered Earthquakes leaked and the title reminded me of this thread

I don't really understand the point of your Patrick essay, considering 111 confirmed himself that Patrick had made new versions (remixes) of the songs with additional production. The filenames all had "old keys" indicating he was using parts from the original versions.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CqgsK7asPrA/ An outttake from the album cover set

I refuse to watch Anthony Fantano, he and his like-minded pretentious incel fans who roam sites like RYM/AOTY need to be eradicated from this planet

Greenwich Acid (has some lyrical differences to Greenwich) Are you back in Greenwich, droppin' acid? Or are you at the Archive watchin' television? Or did you leave for Battery park with your guitar And your reefer, in your leather, lookin' like Ray Gillen? Blue hydrangea Will my forever love never return to me? The apple of my eye, the only one I see Darling, I believe, darling, I believe Are you still the king of rock 'n' roll there? Do you miss hearing me sing, calling me Lana? And did you take your run today Along the West Side highway? And tell me, do you miss your baby mama? Blue hydrangea Will my forever love never return to me? The apple of my eye, the only one I see Darling, I believe, darling, I believe And does it feel like yesterday to you yet? How quickly you forget how I made you smile But I remember everything That diamond horseshoe, wedding ring The flowers in my hair, the tile aisle Blue hydrangea Will my forever love never return to me? The apple of my eye, the only one I see Yes sir, I believe, yes sir, I believe

I originally had it written down as: I get wild on you, baby Get wild on you, baby, like I never knew And I lie like you lately Lie like you lately, like I never knew But it might just be "Li-like you" ?

It's such a fun silly song, I love it

What's she supposed to do? put a trigger warning on the album cover for a screaming outro?

CJ just edited the caption of his Portals Instagram post 25 minutes ago and tagged K&OL

I forgot about Light Shower being made prior to Womb, that was a really interesting piece of information from her track-by-track interview. And it means Light Shower must at latest be from like January–February of 2020... Isn't it odd how Melanie was still dating Oliver Tree at the time? I wonder if the song is about him? (unless there was some sort of Fingers Crossed situation going on)

Well, from how Melanie worded this, it doesn't sound like she self-produced the original demos— only toplined the pre-existing instrumentals and recorded her own vocals for them. But she did say she added extra production on Leeches before sending it to CJ Baran... This Instagram story, speculated to be from the Faerie Soirée recording session, was filmed in her home studio: Been writing music every day at home and I feel so fucking high from creating. & I'm Super pumped cause I get to write with Kinetics & One Love later today and this whole weekend I'm sure that weird "surf-rock" demo of Emerald was another self-recorded topline, with the guitar instrumental (True Colors?) being a random producer beat from one of Jeff's folders. Then, she had sent that demo to K&OL, leading it to get re-produced by One Love on emerald v0.1.

I wonder if this was the inspiration for songs like Emerald and Amulet?

Death (2020) is pretty but has nothing on the new one imo Regarding Tunnel Vision; I've seen some people not liking the new version, and tbh I wasn't feeling it either on the first listen since I was so used to K&OL's v1– but it grew on me quickly after a few more listens. The song improved A LOT.

I edited my post a bit before you quoted to elaborate more on Faerie Soirée, Moon Cycle and Leeches! I love CJ Baran and his production, but it'd be a real shame if Melanie isn't on good terms with K&OL anymore. CJ didn't even tag them in his post about the album, but tagged randoms like Simon and Jared ⚰️

Yeah, that's been pretty odd maybe she somehow genuinely doesn't know that the other three leaked? Tunnel Vision is the only one she actually co-wrote with Kinetics & One Love — Faerie Soirée, Moon Cycle and Leeches were toplines she wrote on other producers' instrumentals, that later got sent to K&OL (I don't think One Love ever re-produced Leeches, but the leaked versions of MC and FS were definitely done by him). So that could have something to do with it?

Hey, so she edited the song bios on Apple Music — click my original post to read the rest! Portals is insanely good, I still have the album on repeat I'm so proud of Melanie.

Melanie's a bit loony but I love her so much

Death I usually have titles picked out early on in the conceptual phase of an album before even writing anything. This one was a must, and I just wasn't getting it right anytime I tried writing it with other people. One day, I sat in the portal room alone and started singing melodies. I heard a spirit with a completely different tone than mine repeat a melody I had sung out loud in the silence and it sent a chill down my body. I was really scared at first, then continued on, using that moment as confirmation from the other side. I laid down the chords after hours of searching through Omnisphere for an instrument that would reverberate through my soul. I added a simple drum loop in the chorus (that was later replaced by production from my favorite collaborator CJ Baran, as well as live drums from Ilan Rubin of Nine Inch Nails - who also put drums down for a couple of other songs.) When I was done writing the song, that same day I played it for my best friend of 22 years who is like my sister. She had just experienced multiple losses in her family. While she was listening on headphones, tears rolled through. The song ended, she looked at me and said "that's the one." Void This is the first song I fully produced on my own, also in the portal room. The first thing I put down was that bass guitar top line. It was an exact melody from a voice memo I had recorded a few days prior. The chorus melody and lyric came all at once just from looping the bass line. I put down a simple programmed drum loop that was later replaced/mixed in with live drums by Rhys Hastings. I remember screaming that chorus while crying, it felt like a weight I needed to get off of me. The weight of my anxiety, the weight of my brain, and it perfectly fit the second stage. A void. A dark place where you are left alone with your own thoughts for introspection, in order to find the light within yourself. Tunnel Vision Wrote this song while in Hawaii in February 2021 with Kinetics & One Love. We were surrounded by coqui frogs singing to us, the sound of rain hitting the roof, and pure connection. I wanted to make a song to describe the stage of moving through a tunnel of familiar hymns and imagery to ease the transition into the other side while also writing something with multiple meaning that people can relate to in a more earthly way. This song was leaked through a drop box hack the same year, and it took everything within me to not trash it. I couldn't rewrite a better tunnel song so it stayed. Faerie Soirée There were many days I sat in the portal room wanting to create outside of my own perspective. I asked Jeff Levin (my A&R) to send me as many folders as possible of instrumental tracks created by different producers. After searching through the folders for a while, there was one track labeled "Respect Vol 1" by this producer named Hoskins that struck me. It was an infectious drum groove over a guitar top line. I wrote the song very quickly. I kept dancing to it, being overtaken by fairy energy. It felt like the stage of homecoming. Connecting with my soul family. A spirited soirée between me and my Fae guides. Light Shower There is a place in the afterlife people under hypnosis describe as a soul cleansing or a shower of light. A place where gem-colored rays of light shine through every inch of your soul, cleansing your spirit of the trauma it had experienced during your last lifetime. Restoring you to your original vibration. I remember reading about this sitting on the roof of my garage, imagining what it would feel like while the warmth of the sun was hitting me. A few weeks later I sat in my bathtub with my guitar and stayed up all night writing a love song about this light, in order to create layered meaning. This was also the very first song I ever wrote for this album. Spider Web If I were to ever teach a conceptual/thematic songwriting class, this song would be a great reference point. The interconnectedness of us all that everyone under hypnosis feels, including myself when I went under, is what I wanted to write about. I wanted to spice it up a bit, so I found an opportunity to add double meaning for earthly resonance. So "Spiderweb" is also written about social media's chokehold on society. "Feeding off our highs and lows and curious to see us struggle, no one can leave once they merge." I wrote this one on my guitar in the portal room, recorded a voice memo of it and sent it to CJ. He created an incredible instrumental track for it that same day and even created the perfect drop using his own mouth sounds that gave it that extra spidery feel. Leeches People describe a lot of the after-life to be like a school of sorts, projecting into past lifetimes with people they keep incarnating with, to put themselves in each other's shoes. Showing how they could've best dealt with conflict on earth for next time. These next few songs are about conflict on earth. I'd like to think we all plan these moments together prior to coming here, triggering each other to evolve. Living in the most vapid and isolating city of Los Angeles, I decided to write "Leeches" about people who live here for the wrong reasons, and how they act around people in the spotlight. I wrote this over a track from that large folder originally, added some extra production stuff, then brought it to CJ who then brought in live string instrumentation for it to tug on the emotional heart strings. Battle of the Larynx This was the last song that was written and added to the album. May of last year I went back to Hawaii to the same house I wrote "Tunnel Vision" in. CJ came through for the last hurrah of writing sessions before we declared the album finished. I pulled out my guitar and wrote the song very quickly outside. Then CJ added layers of magic to the production as he always does. Rhys recorded live drums for this song later on. He added the urgency and momentum to this song that the subject matter really was needing. I wrote this one to be about two different conflict styles - one person who yells a bunch of nothing really loudly to try and intimidate and the other who can calmly & concisely use their words & wit to prove their point. The Contortionist I will never forget the feeling, and the intense smiles that me and CJ shared while creating this song. A true collaborative moment where we both felt the ping of our little antennas, like a loud phone call firing off. A lot of our process involved making tracks, then picking our favorites, then going into the booth and free styling Melodies, piecing together the best moments and then I would pace around the pool writing lyrics to fit the cadence of the free-styled melodies. The unhinged laughs in the chorus are the exact takes from my freestyle. This conflict song is about bending over backwards for someone who doesn't accept you as you are. Moon Cycle I wrote this song in the portal room alone over one of the instrumental tracks in that folder that was sent to me. It was a guitar loop by Pearl Lion. On each of my albums I like to include at least one "taboo" song about something many people deal with but no one talks about in music. I wanted to write a fun, lighthearted, song about being a person who experiences menstruation. How blood represents vitality and life. I wanted the chorus to be pretty and to use analogies for bleeding that were sweet. "Juice melting like raspberry, pomegranate it's so scary, how my aura got him howling at my moon cycle baby." The rumbling sounds that lead into the song are my actual period cramps I recorded on my phone. With the conflict of patriarchal society brainwashing straight cis men to believe they should have any kind of say over other people's bodies, and also the general kind of ick that they get from the discussion of menstruation, I wanted to make the song extra uncomfy for them by going on to describe a man who lives for period sex! Nymphology Wrote this song with CJ and Nick long. It was a really fun session. We made a bunch of different vibes and this one stuck out to us the most. I wanted it to be bratty and a commentary piece on the box a lot of men put femme presenting people in when they call us names like "manic pixie dream girl." Being forced to play the role of mom & healer, while they gaslight you & call you crazy the minute you communicate how you feel. & The ending interlude of this song is actually called "Amulet." My partner Verde was cleaning out his computer and an instrumental randomly started playing & my ears perked up. It was a track he had produced years ago that was just sitting there collecting digital dust. I immediately wrote over it, but writing a full song for it was difficult. I loved it so much and had no idea what to do with it. One day in the studio I randomly was like hmm maybe "Amulet" can be an interlude after a song, and as fate had it the very the last note of "Nymphology" is the very first note of "Amulet." A perfect puzzle piece. Evil My favorite of the conflict songs! CJ laid down guitar and looped it, I paced around the pool and wrote the lyric and melody in around 30 minutes. Flowed really easily and effortlessly. I think it's because I just had a mental turning point where I was finally able to articulate perfectly what I had dealt with in my last relationship. I wanted the lyrics to be the most savage and the most cunty. Every time I wrote something I was like no it's not mean enough. It's about dealing with a narcissist who ironically calls you evil just because you're able to see through their bullshit. I spent the entire day blowing out my vocals recording it. It was definitely the most challenging song to sing. Womb I knew I wanted the album to end on the title "Womb." This was one of the earliest songs written in 2020. Had a session one day with Omer Fedi as part of a week of sessions I had with different people. Omer started playing these guitar chords that were so beautiful, I asked him to play it on loop while I stared at the corner of the room quickly writing lyrics. CJ and I had Rhys come in and record live drums around 2 years later to complete it. This song was written from the perspective of entering a new lifetime. The feeling of nerves and excitement that arise when you're about to forget everything you know about your true self as a soul in order to let your human experience on earth move your progression forward.

Surprised at the sudden mass stanning of Moon Cycle That and Faerie Soirée are my least favourites on Portals— but I kinda love everything else