Birds/Neo

## Production order

**Birds (Neo)** is an Electronic/Orchestral hybrid song by Imagine Dragons remixed by LastyGhost. It was released on November 10th, 2023. It is the anthem of the *CRiTORA* series' 7th Anniversary and was made to celebrate the release of the final chapters of *CRiTORA: Abnormal*.

## Cover artwork

The cover artwork features Cosmibula and Morgan Morrow dressed up as Osmehel Solsym and  Kepler Solarowl, as well as wearing earpieces, singing. The background is the  Abnormal District's Junkyard, a place with a dark purple floor, purple hills, solid black mountains, and a shadow purple background. There is a rounded moon-like gradient on the center, and the symbols of the Solsyms and the  Planetary Pals on Cosmibula and Morgan's sides, respectively.

### Logotype

"BIRDS" is written with the Alpha Centauri font while "IMAGINE DRAGONS" and "LASTYGHOST NEO-REMIX" is written in Raleway's ExtraBold Italic variation. The style mimics the one utilized in the logo of *CRiTORA: Abnormal*.

## Structure

### Intro

*To be written*

In the YouTube release, artwork by Daydreaming Birdie of the Junkyard, the Frozen Foundry, the Lightning Lakes, and the Scorched Woods appear one by one before the drop initiating the song for real, in which the CRiTORA Day 2023 illustration is used.

### Act 2

A cymbal crash announces the beginning of the song's classical sequence, during which a plucked violin and dramatic bells get heard. To announce the change of segment, the dramatic bells play loud chords. Once the gong strikes, the Harmony lead enters and sings the bridge verses. The gong gets struck at each segment, and Harmony increases its pitch after a cymbal roll and strike. In the YouTube release, an image of the Abnormal District's Edge is shown during this sequence.

White noise interferes at the end of the orchestral sequence to announce the return of the electronic one, at which the classical instruments get overridden. The Siren lead joins along with the Harmony one, and while the bells continue to play the chords, a pad joins along. Upon the cymbal strike, the drum sequence plays kicks and snares every half note, potentially denoting tension. The white noise returns, and both leads play long notes before getting silenced.

### Coda

Every instrument gets silenced by a quiet drop. No sound is made until five seconds later, when a weak pad plays. It is followed by the Crystal pad and an arpeggio played by the plucked violin and the Aura pluck. Once fully fading in, the piano's high keys and the Mystic synth play the lyric's first verses before ending with the chorus' final verses, heard as the background melodies fade out.

In the YouTube release, the drop is accompanied by a blue screen of death asset, and once the music starts again, a promotion for *CRiTORA: Abnormal* appears for two segments. The rest of the song has Daydreaming Birdie and LastyGhost's characters' icons.

## Development

Birds (Neo) begun development in September 2023, though it was put on hold due to focus on Genesis and retaken once it was finished. As LastyGhost produced enough ideas for Birds (Neo) to continue, she soon realized it would become much longer than she expected it to be. With *CRiTORA: Abnormal* reaching completion, its length and structure made it get categorized as its main theme, as well as CRiTORA's 7th Anniversary anthem.

### Chronology

* **October 19th, 2023:** Song teased.
* **October 30th, 2023:** Cover artwork revealed.
* **November 10th, 2023:** Song launched.

## Trivia

* This is LastyGhost's longest song so far, at 7 minutes and 53 seconds, dethroning Dynamite by a minute and a half. (47 seconds if Dynamite's Epilogue sequence is counted)
* This is the first LastyGhost song to have closed captioning on its YouTube release.
* Daydreaming Birdie's mascot was given cyan cheeks exactly one month after this song's release.

## External Links

* Listen in YouTube
* Listen in Newgrounds

## References & Notes

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 https://www.instagram.com/p/CylqXYyR1Q-/
2. ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/CzCEJLMPJHU/