This Game of Make Believe is a moody, late-night post-bop jazz ballad from Chris Missen’s 2025 album, Saudade Stories.

The song inhabits the melancholy of a post-breakup limbo — that emotionally complicated space where the connection still lingers but the relationship has ended. Its lyrics frame love as a quiet performance, a “game” both characters play to avoid confronting finality. There’s a wistful pull between hope and futility, perfectly mirrored by the music’s harmonic ambiguity.

Musically, it draws on the modal palette of Bill Evans and the atmospheric restraint of Kind of Blue-era Miles Davis. The piano voicings are intentionally open and understated, built on quartal harmony and rich upper extensions that blur traditional tonal boundaries. This creates a spacious, unsettled texture — leaving room for silence, tension, and reflection.

The muted trumpet, evocative of Miles himself, acts almost like an inner monologue: intimate, hesitant, and unable to fully let go. Together, the restrained instrumentation and slow pacing capture the feeling of lingering in a doorway — caught between leaving and staying, while the late-night mood wraps the listener in quiet introspection.

If the late-night intimacy of the track resonates with you, you can explore the understated beauty of the piano part by listening to the isolated version here.

Music & lyrics by Chris Missen

Musicians:

Chris Missen - Vocals, guitar, bass, drum programming

Sebastian Greschuk - Muted trumpet

Lisha Kayrooz - Piano