Inhale the Calm, Exhale the Shade

Story

Like with “Desert Scorpion” getting a really nice touch-up when it turned into “Rhythmic Tide,” I’m really happy for “Gyre” getting this new chance to be heard.

I was super-surprised when he found a rap for this one, but I think it’s perfect for the song. The song circling itself made a great chance for Declaime to center the track, and why not be center-ing while he’s at it?

Between every pair of breathe in/breathe out (the breathe out is panned to the sides, because I’m me), I’m upping the delay on Declaime’s voice by 1% every measure. So it keeps creeping up unbounded until he centers you. I love when production gets a clear chance to lean into the narrative.

I did both the singles’ lyric videos in PowerPoint, like I did for “Tiles on the Tiles” back in the day. For whatever reason, Office doesn’t export color gradient blocks to other file types well; it adds glitches. Rather than fight Microsoft on its questionable .mp4 creation abilities, I leaned into it by opening up Clipchamp (a program I didn’t know existed before this) to add glitchy, VHS-style effects. The song borders on vaporwave, and the cover art’s in the style of a ’70s self-help book. So why not add to it a look of ’80s self-help VHS?

Lyrics (by Declaime)

Take a deep breath and let the stress unwind
Inhale the calm, and exhale what’s left behind
Life’s a rhythm – let your heartbeat align
A symphony of peace in every breath that you find

Breathe in
Breathe out
Let the worries fade
Inhale the calm, exhale the shade
Minds steady, hearts strong, anxiety betrayed
With every breath, a musical serenade

In the chaos of this world, find your own beat
Breathe in the courage, let anxiety retreat – go on then
Inhale the calm, let the worries fleet
Exhale the doubt, find your own two feet

Breathe in
Breathe out
Let the worries fade
Inhale the calm, exhale the shade
Minds are steady, hearts strong, anxiety betrayed
With every breath, a musical serenade

Close your eyes and feel the air – a soothing breathe
Release despair
Inhale hope, let go of the snare
Exhale peace, breathe out with flair

Life’s a journey, not a race
Inhale the present, find your own space
Breathe in courage, let fear erase
Exhale the tension, embrace the grace

Breathe in
Then breathe out
Let the worries fade
Inhale the calm, exhale the shade

So in the storm, when it goes intense
Remember to breathe, find your own defense
Inhale the calm, exhale the pretense
With every breath, find your own sense

Breathe in
Breathe out
Let the worries fade
Breathe in
Breathe out
Breathe in
Then breathe out
Let the worries fade

Some press about it

Pending! (I hope.)

O, the Key! Where could it be?