7OOP3D is such an incredibly talented duo. I really lucked out drawing them for this Secret Mixter for a very specific reason… their music often visits the darkness. And whooo… that’s where I’ve been. (My dad died from COVID-19 on December 3rd.)

After I found this instrumental by 7OOP3D and stripped it down to the orchestral elements, I was left with the perfect backing track to process my sadness. And you know what? By the time I was done mixing, I felt lighter.

So thank you to 7OOP3D for providing the space for me to feel some things that needed felt and released. Music is cathartic.

Every note of music in this track is by 7OOP3D. I added vocals and field recordings of crows and rain. The crows visit my neighborhood en masse each year. Hundreds of them were in the trees, on the street, and in the yards. It’s magical to watch these intelligent, inquisitive birds.

Here are the vocal stems.

WORDS

These severed roots
Leave a broken heart
To make sense of this world
With a haunted mind

Alone
Confused
Shivering
Deteriorating
Swirling in a morphine dream world
Still connected to a body that is
Unable to breathe a full breath
Still connected to a physical form
Starving and shutting down

I cannot reconcile my sadness
Tears for one and a half million deceased
Whose bodies became the casualty
Of our collective failure
To prepare
To believe
To sacrifice
To lead

And this anger, searing rage
This nightmare tugs at my sleeve
Remembering a heart
As it beat arrhythmically
Quivering uselessly
Unable to pump the blood
Her body needs
Left as a memory
Fading in the minds
Most can only mourn
For a little bit of time

Severed roots
Haunted mind
Could have
Should have
Didn’t have time
Severed roots
Haunted mind
Could have
Should have
Didn’t have time

These severed roots
Leave a broken
To make sense of this world
With a haunted mind