January has a way of forcing reflection.
Short days. Long nights. Enough quiet to hear what’s actually been building.
This month we are releasing Manifestation—an album that now feels less like a destination and more like a turning point.
Manifestation was written and recorded in late 2022 and early 2023, when we were still operating under the name Return to Zero. Somewhere in that process during the writing, recording, listening back we realizing what we were no longer RTZ! Manifestation was the musical birthing process of SixFootStilts!
In that sense, Manifestation sits slightly outside the rest of the catalogue. It bridges two identities. It marks the moment where intention turned into direction.
That direction continued quickly. In the spring of 2023, SixFootStilts released its first album, Artifacts & Interludes (often referred to as the AI album), and the themed, exploratory approach that now defines the project took hold from there.
Momentum by the Numbers
Along the way, something else has been happening.
We recently crossed 50,000 streams on SoundCloud. When I first posted our music to SoundCloud we were getting 10, 20 maybe 30 streams a song. After I upped the ante and moved my account to the artist level, I guess the algorithm kicked in.
I look at it as simply a signal. Evidence that people are finding their way into the music and spending real time with it. For an independent, self-driven project, that kind of sustained listening really matters to us.
Featured Song: “Friends”
This month’s featured song is “Friends” from Manifestation.
You’ll find it highlighted on the site, along with a short personal note explaining why this particular track continues to resonate both musically and, as it turns out, at home.
A New Way to Listen (On SoundCloud)
Another thing that’s become clear over time is that our catalogue doesn’t live in just one lane. Different listeners connect to different aspects of what we do. Lyrics, mood, instrumentation, atmosphere etc.
With that in mind, I’ve created five new playlists on SoundCloud, each offering a different perspective on the same body of work. Links to each playlist are included below.
They are:
Lote’s Lucky Charms lyric-forward and emotionally tuned
Sly’s Chosen Ones – atmosphere, structure, and sonic depth
Jawny’s Big Tops – a broad, high-energy cross-section of the catalogue
The 1000+ Club – all 22 songs that have each surpassed 1,000 streams
SixFootStilts Stilt-trumentals: a dedicated playlist for our instrumental tracks, typically the closing song on each album, developed and produced by Sly
These aren’t “best of” lists. They’re listening lenses. Different entry points depending on what you’re in the mood to hear.
As always, we’re grateful—to everyone who listens, shares, comments, or simply spends time with the music. None of this exists in a vacuum, and we don’t take that lightly.
More to come.
Different angles. Same stilts.
– JawnyB
January 31, 2026
