Blue Ant Crawl

A two-man, two-machine post-cyberpunk collaboration and commentary

Suno introduced a new version, 4.5+ that promises to be a pretty serious improvement on 4.5, which, with the exception of the dysfunctional new editor, was a significant improvement on 4.0. Here are the new features:

New Ways to Create and Remix:

4.5+ introduces enhanced flexibility for creation and experimentation. You can now swap vocals, flip instrumentals, and even spark a new song from any playlist. This opens up advanced remixing workflows that weren’t present in 4.5.

• Expanded Vocal and Instrumental Swapping:

Users can directly swap out vocals or instrumentals across generated tracks—great for experimentation or quickly iterating musical ideas.

• Playlist-to-Song Creation:

An innovative new feature allows users to create new songs inspired directly by playlists. This is a step forward from the static prompt-based approach and represents a more fluid, real-world workflow.

• Performance and Quality Refinements:

4.5+ builds on 4.5’s already improved audio fidelity, vocal realism, and genre flexibility, with a focus on delivering even more authentic mixes and user customization. Although the core sound engine remains similar, the workflow enhancements and remixing controls expand creative possibilities.

Features Retained from Suno 4.5

• Up to 8 minutes song length

• Enhanced prompt interpretation for richer, more precise music

• Expanded genre and mashup support

• Refined “Covers” and “Personas” features for detailed style and voice control

• Faster generation speed and improved audio quality

Naturally, I didn’t hesitate to put the new version to the test. I’ve been experimenting with using Claude 4 Sonnet to help me convert themes from various short stories and novels into song lyrics; Blue Ant Crawl is inspired by William Gibson’s excellent, and rather prescient post-cyberpunk trilogy that consists of Pattern Recognition, Spook Country, and Zero History known collectively as The Blue Ant trilogy.

AI lyrics tend to be somewhat banal, so I modified them, although rather less this time than is usually necessary, then put them into a techno Persona in Suno 4.5+. The result was fine, but sounded too similar to previous songs, so I tried it with a very different Persona, and while the result was mildly intriguing, it didn’t do the lyrics justice. Finally, I tried it in the Persona I use for my Soulsigma songs, and I was a little surprised to discover how well the haunting alternative guitar rock suited the dystopian lyrics.

I ended up altering the song structure to suit the mood of the music, turning the bridge into a pseudo-chorus and moving what was supposed to be the chorus to a single instance at the end because it hit so hard that any repetition would simply serve to weaken its effect. I also had to use the legacy editor twice to correct a pronunciation and a vocal flow error, but it gave me a good replacement both times within the first four spins.

BLUE ANT CRAWL

In the soulless office towers the algorithms crawl

Databases of desire, reading signals from the sprawl

The genius calls the meeting, screens light up the room

While somewhere in the network, new patterns start to bloom

She sees the early signs with logo-allergenic eyes

Detecting brand pollution inside corporate disguise

The footage spreads like wildfire through fiber optic veins

As focus groups dissect our deepest darkest pains

In the space between the signal and the noise

We've become the product, lost our voice

Pattern recognition scans our minds

Devouring dreams with the algorithm’s finds

From Tokyo to Moscow, the viral content flows

Each click becomes a data point that only Bigend knows

We think we're making choices, but the code runs deeper still

Mining every moment for Netflix dopamine and chill

In the space between the signal and the noise

We've become the product, lost our voice

Pattern recognition scans our minds

Devouring dreams with the algorithm’s finds

The Blue Ant crawls through the web of our desires

Mapping every heartbeat, every thought that crossed our minds

In the mirror world of marketing and lies

Our souls are being sold and we still don't realize

The Blue Ant knows us before we know ourselves

And what we'll buy tomorrow from the dark satanic shelves

Now, I would invite anyone to compare Blue Ant Crawl to any pop or rock song recorded in the last 10 years and explain precisely how it is deficient musically, compositionally, artistically, or intellectually in comparison, or how it is any less real music expressing real thoughts and emotions.

Bonus points if you can identify both the 19th century poetic reference and the poem.