Submission, Seduction, and Soundscapes

🎵 Behind the Song: Ashes of the Crown🎵

For anyone curious about how these songs come together, here’s a peek behind the curtain. These are the initial production notes I sketched out after finishing a rough draft of the lyrics for Ashes of the Crown. It’s the early stage of my creative process—where I start shaping the emotional arc, sonic texture, and structure of the song before diving into full production.

Production Notes for Ashes of the Crown:

 

Song Title: Ashes of the Crown

 

Character: Roca (from The Demon Thief)

Genre: Cinematic dark pop / ambient industrial

Mood: Brooding, seductive, mythic, emotionally unraveling

Tempo: Mid-slow, pulsing rhythm with ambient swells and industrial accents

Vocal Tone: gravelly, hypnotic, layered with whispers and distorted harmonies

 

Structure:

• Intro
• Verse 1
• Verse 2
• Chorus 1
• Verse 3
• Bridge
• Chorus 2 (expanded)
• Outro

 

Intro – Ritual Echoes

• Sound: Ambient pads, reverse textures, faint whispers in Infernal tongue
• Mood: Ancient, haunted, ceremonial
• Purpose: Establish Roca’s infernal lineage and emotional weight

 

Verse 1 – Infernal Inheritance

• Sound: Distorted bass, low drones, subtle metallic percussion
• Vocal FX: Gravelly lead with layered whispers underneath
• Purpose: Introduce Roca’s upbringing and Malakar’s rule

 

Verse 2 – The Split

• Sound: Rising tension—add glitch textures, sharper percussion
• Vocal FX: Slight distortion on “I do not kneel” for emphasis
• Purpose: Show Roca’s rebellion and emotional fracture

 

Chorus 1 – Exile & Hunger

• Sound: Expansive ambient pads, layered harmonies, cinematic strings
• Vocal FX: Echo trail on “I will rise again”
• Purpose: Establish Roca’s exile and his simmering ambition

 

Verse 3 – Arrival in Nocturna

• Sound: Urban textures—distant sirens, soft industrial clinks
• Vocal FX: Breathier delivery, seductive tone
• Purpose: Introduce the human world and Roca’s new guise

 

Bridge – Intrigue & Possession

• Sound: Sparse instrumentation, heartbeat pulse, glitch flickers
• Vocal FX: Whispered lines layered with dry reverb
• Purpose: Mark the emotional shift—Roca’s obsession begins

 

Chorus 2 – The Beginning

• Sound: Full instrumentation—industrial percussion, ambient swells, vocal layering
• Vocal FX: Harmonized vocals with subtle distortion
• Purpose: Emotional climax, the start of Roca and Kody’s entanglement

 

Outro – Whispered Fade

• Sound: Fade to ambient hum, reverse textures, whispered echoes
• Vocal FX: Whispered delivery with soft delay
• Purpose: Leave the story open-ended, hinting at what’s to come

 

Even with all of my notes and planning, it still takes a bit of trial and error to get a song that I’m happy with.  Sometimes it’s an exercise in frustration, and try-try-again until I get it right.  But I feel this one turned out really well.

 

Here’s how the final version of the song ended up, along with the completed lyric video:

Ashes of the Crown is a cinematic dark pop anthem tracing the fall and rise of Roca, a demon prince exiled from the infernal plane. Raised under the iron rule of his father Malakar, Roca once wielded cruelty as command—but the fire within him began to shift. Drawn to the spirit and defiance of humanity, he fled his father’s dominion and now walks the streets of Nocturna in human guise. This song unfolds like a whispered rebellion: haunted by legacy, seduced by possibility, and ignited by the moment he first lays eyes on a mortal thief named Kody. It’s the beginning of a story written in flame, lust, and the slow unraveling of control.

Let me know what you think!  My intent was to make the lyric video as cinematic and narrative-driven as I could, to capture the overall feel of the song.  I'm really pleased with how it turned out.

I’d love to know if any of you are playing around with AI music, and what successes and frustrations you might be having with it. ❤️