AFTERUSH CALM [INTRO — 12 bars, no vocals] [dim afterglow groove already moving: soft broken kick, warm sub pulse, tiny glitch ticks, Rhodes fragments, tape hiss, slow sidechain breath; intimate but not sleepy] [vocal enters close, restrained, riding the groove] after the high after the light crowd in the wires hands out of sight warm in the fade codes in the air everything quiet we are still there [hook — sparse, intimate, bass answers the last word] afterrush calm strange but safe heartbeat slow still in the wave warm in the hush future in place you, me, all stuck in the same soft space afterrush calm strange but safe [verse 1 — late-night, restrained] screen went dim room went late your signal flickered mine did the same ghost little lights float in the frame soft conversation after the flame warm metal glow over our skin silence replying from deep within [hook — groove deepens, still minimal] afterrush calm strange but safe heartbeat slow still in the wave warm in the hush future in place you, me, all stuck in the same soft space afterrush calm strange but safe [instrumental — 16 bars, negative space groove, ghost voice echoes: calm / warm / wave] [verse 2 — almost spoken, tender but strange] no one to lead no one behind just shared breathing out of the grind pixels at rest nerves letting go soft silver circuits quietly glow bare little truth right where we lay all of our data washed from the day [bridge — stripped, groove thins but does not stop] you didn’t speak first I didn’t rush we let the new world live in the hush this was the first time it felt like enough for once language lost the need to prove us tough for once future had a heart and it stayed warm [final hook — subtracting, groove dissolves in pieces] afterrush calm strange but safe heartbeat slow still in the wave warm in the hush future in place you, me, all stuck in the same soft space afterrush calm strange but safe [outro — groove fragments, ghost mirror only] rest in the signal rest in the glow nothing to chase nowhere to go afterrush calm holding our names soft in the dark still in the same warm frame
