When I first had "Aura" (a track from Memory Lane) published to digital stores in January 2020, I originally used the name Verso since it was the username I used online. Unbeknownst to me though, the name was quite popular among many artists! My release ended up mixed in to another artist's discography. I released another single the next month and the same thing happened. Getting the releases fixed were a pain in the rear, so I decided to come up with another name for future releases.

Again due to my uncreativity, I couldn't come up with a name to use and was real close to just using my real name (looking back at that now, I probably should have done that, I don't know why I didn't). The "alias" Alluthus was real last minute, and I got the name from one of my playable characters from World of Warcraft. Best part is that the username was autogenerated, too.

Like with Memory Lane, the photo was taken on a smartphone. I wanted to take the photo for this album at the same place I did for Memory Lane, but this year has been kind of dry and I took those photos during Spring, so there was more "greenery" (really, it was just tall weeds since it's the desert).

For this album, I took the photos in my bedroom with a smart lightbulb on a lamp. The first batch ended up real bad since initially, I put the smartbulb in a ceiling light fixture and it made the photos grainy since the camera was not real close to the light source. When I put the bulb in a lamp and propped my phone next to it, the quality was a lot better. As for taking the photo, I used my smart watch to tell my phone when to take a photo.

Afterwards, I imported the photos to my computer, selected the best one and edited out the background around me and put a solid red background behind me. Using an SVG editor, I drew some squiggly lines and shapes that resemble some sort of paint splatter.

For what inspired the photo, it was Hikaru Utada's 2009 album, This Is the One. I originally was not wearing a hoodie when taking the photos until the last few.

Perhaps! I am not sure though. I just have the album released in North America at the moment, but I plan for an international version for those outside of North America sometime in March since I noticed I have a bit more international listeners. Memory Lane was also released only in North America, but its deluxe release was released globally. I plan for the international version of this album to include tracks that previously were region locked.

This section is going to explain the background behind each track on the album! It is listed by track number.

• tranquility – This track was my first release in 2021. I made it while I was at my family's ranch. It features some strings, mild electric guitar, piano and wind instruments. I wanted to get a country-like alternative sound, but the bassoon makes it sound like a kind of song for some sort of isekai anime. My younger brother has a co-writing credit because he came up with the track title.
• wanted – Similar to tranquility, I wanted a country-like alternative sound, which was somewhat accomplished. The flute on the track is kind of random if I am being honest. It originally was added randomly while I was seeing what sounded best, and was left accidentally. I ended up keeping it though because random is cool once in awhile.
• tale – This track was made in December 2020. And guess what? It has a wind instrument too. For this track, I wanted to go with a sound similar from Memory Lane. While there is electric and bass guitar, the marimba and bassoon are again–real random. I am not a huge fan of the marimba if I am going to be honest, but I just kept it because I was too lazy to replace it. The track overall is kind of weird-sounding if I am being honest.
• soul ashes – The uncreativity strikes again here on this track. I could not come up with a title, so I just used something that sounded cool (but really the title is kind of awful). This track is 100% loops, with a bit of FX effects from yours truly. This was one of the last tracks to be made.
• relapse – No, I am not addicted to anything nor have had a relapse. This track also uses a lot of samples. It's got a hip hop/R&B type of beat to it, the drum kit has a huge kick to it and various synths and piano are used throughout the track. The track was made while I was playing around with a new sample kit, and I ended up mixing it with older kits. I have been listening to a lot of contemporary R&B music lately, and wanted to attempt at making something similar to today's sound, so thank God for this kit!
• 赤い糸 (akai ito, red thread of fate) – I ended up using some Japanese titles for this album. I just thought it would add some "uniqueness". My Japanese is very minimal, so I had to double check everything on a dictionary (shoutout to Jisho, a Japanese dictionary my Japanese teacher showed me in high school). The Red Thread of Fate comes from Chinese mythology, where an invisible red thread is around the finger of those destined to be their true love. The title would probably make a lot more sense if there were any lyrics to be honest, but I used Akai Ito because I hope to find the one someday (real cringy, I know).
• sinner – Again, these titles really make no sense...just shows how far my creativity goes. I made this song back in September 2021. It probably sounds similar to tracks found on Memory Lane because it uses the same piano loops and drum kit. This track also is purely samples/loops. As for the title, the track is kind of mysterious sounding and Sinner originally was supposed to be a title used in one of the Memory Lane tracks, so I just threw it in so it can finally be used.
• 乾杯 (kampai) – This track has some sort of dance-pop feel to it. It's a very upbeat track, kind of making you want to groove out. Kampai (or Kanpai) translated into English means "cheers" (or literally, "empty the glass") and is said for a toast, like how in English, one says, "Bottoms up!" The drinking aspect aside, this track to me felt kind of celebratory in its beat, hence the title. Why not celebrate with some sparkling juice?
• fUcK off (interlude) – This is absolutely one of the most cringiest tracks I have made, ever. Kid you not, I was trying my best to not laugh while making this. This was the very last track made, and I almost didn't include it. I kept it because I already told a few people it would be included on the project. Technically speaking, Fuck Off is my "vocal debut". No singing though, I am just reading in a monotone voice off of my tablet. The effort in using an actual microphone was not worth it, so the vocal part was recorded on my phone and basically, it's just me saying, "Fuck off", multiple times. The background noise, the smacking of my lips and me trying to hold my laughter in is what makes this track hilarious. Many might think what I am saying on there is serious, because it mentions people indirectly, but I can assure you, this was just for shits and giggles.
• グイグイ (GUI GUI) – Like Kampai, this track also has a dance-pop influence to it, but also perhaps electropop as well. Gui Gui is like an onomatopoeia really. Generally, it means doing something without hesitation and continuously. It can also mean drinking heavily, but that is not the case for this track. Theoretically, one can dance care-free to a dance-pop song with very little thought to mind, so I just decided on Gui Gui. Everyone can have some optimism in their life after all. The word itself though, I have never heard of it before in Japanese until I discovered it on an album.
• 24/7 – This track originally was on my 2020 extended play titled Undertow. Like the previous track, 24/7 is heavy on the beats and synths. An upbeat track, I made it messing with newly released loop kits while visiting a relative in San Diego. We were in downtown San Diego and the nightlife there inspired the title.
• Undertow – This was recorded while I was making the deluxe tracks of Memory Lane. I originally made the track for a game titled "Ketchup the Banana" by STiBaRC CEO Joshua Herron (herronjo), but it was something he didn't want to use in the game, I think due to the track being relatively slow and "watery electric" as he calls it. Herron also has co-writing credits for this track. A "remastered" album version was included on this release, with clearer sounds and a bit more "oomph".
• Skyline – Also from the Undertow EP and also made while in San Diego, Skyline is ironically one of my least favorite tracks. It isn't made very well, especially near the end. The track is 100% loops as well and the title inspiration was from the San Diego skyline I saw while visiting as we stayed on the 12th floor of a condo with a view of the San Diego Bay.
• ミュージック (myūjikku, music) – I originally made this track for someone in the STiBaRC Records roster, but no one wanted to use it or remix it as their own. Originally titled Loops, this track uses a lot of samples and loops. Only a tad bit of the drum kit was by me. It is also my longest published song, at 4:30. The upbeat theme strikes again with this song. The original title was kind of bland, so I decided to just name it "music" in Japanese.
• 大丈夫 (daijōbu) – Honestly, the title throws you off when the track first starts. Daijōbu means one is all right and safe, or informally, they are chill. It can also be used to ask if one is okay. The track gives a sort of mysterious vibe with the strings found in the beginning.
• Press Forward – From the Undertow EP as well, this track is very "acoustic" (I put that in quotations because the guitar was made from MIDI rather than a real guitar). Some of the strings are the same samples found in the Life Soundtrack while the "guitar" samples are the same found in Memory Lane. For this track, I wanted a sound similar to the title track of Memory Lane. It has a country sound to it, but Orchestra too since there is prominent strings.
• K.M.D – The title of the track is the initials of someone close to my family that recently passed away. This track is simply a piano track from the TRAKGIRL kit on GarageBand. Near the end, I recorded a drum kit. The song is pretty minimal and short, but I wanted to honor their life in some sort of way, and this was the only idea I could come up with. This song was my last release of 2021.
• Let Go... – This is the final track of the album. It also is 100% loops/samples. The song was originally created in October 2021. While pretty short, I think it serves best as a closing track for the album. As for the title, I kind of based it off of Epilogue, the final track from Memory Lane. Let Go... however sounds way different.

Not 100% sure to be honest. I said the same thing about Memory Lane though, and sure enough, a second album has been made. It all just depends really, considering this took way longer to make (like a year and a half) versus the 6 months it took to make Memory Lane.

Maybe I'll learn how to actually play an instrument to make 100% original stuff, but I highly doubt that'll happen. For now, I just got minimal keyboard skills.