To The Clouds / 向云端 (ft. Anri Arcane)【#AOFEST2026】

Thank you to everyone who helped make this project happen! Sabi: Last year was my first real foray into songwriting. After writing one pretty bad song, I actually came up with some demos I’m quite proud of, and one of those demos turned into CRUEL DIVINE. After finishing the song last January, for various reasons I became a lot more inconsistent (and unsuccessful) with my songwriting to the point that I began to give up on it. When I finally released CRUEL DIVINE this past August, the reception was so overwhelmingly supportive that I decided I should stop fooling around making VGM covers and write some more vocaloid songs. Thankfully, after powering through some unsuccessful writing sessions, the words have started coming to me again. To The Clouds ended up being one of those songs that comes out in a few short writing sessions. It’s a simple song that paints a scene of two lovers dancing in the sky, elevated by the splendor of burning romance. As I devised the melodies, lyrics, and chords, I felt the inspiration from many different artists that shaped this beautiful genre of City Pop. I cannot thank Luce enough for arranging, translating, mixing and helping produce it in such a short time, as we decided pretty late to collaborate on this song as an entry for AOFEST. I would also like to thank Connor for being on call for us, giving us bass, drum programming, and keys, as well as being the third set of ears on this track as we barrelled through it. Lastly, I would like to thank all of the other performers on this track for helping to bring it to life with their exceptional talents. Connor: Thanks so much Sabi and Luce for having me on this project! What a blast! We were able to combine all the things I love most in music. Jazzy harmonies, Earth Wind & Fire horns (on the 21st of september no less), and a funky rhythm section. Huge shoutout to everyone who came together on short notice to make this happen. To the clouds! EN Songwriting/Composition: @sabi-producer CN Songwriting/Arrangement/Trombone: @lucevitous67 Drums/Addt. Arrangement/Bass Guitar: @ConnorHayesMusic Vocal Arrangement/Backing Vox: @GINOZA Guitar: @_ODDEEO_ Saxophone: @justsoneji Vocal Direction/Tuning: @ePiaeon Illustration: @traichuart https://x.com/TraChiuArt?s=20