The Belgians’s Pale Grey are back with their new single Amin just some weeks after the release of Eve. Utilising the liminality that represents the back of a bus, where you’re surrounded by people but usually deep into your thoughts while looking out the window, the group creates a narrative in which the usual overthinking of these moments of our day is soothed by a supportive voice that assures us that everything is going to be all right. With the characteristic sound that reminds us of the golden era of indie pop and a concept that everyone can relate to, Pale Grey is a band to keep our eyes on.
The story that the music video crafted and that gives sense to the music and lyrics of the song is one of a young man who ponders about his life while looking outside the window, riding a bus with an unknown destination, escaping from his reality. The energy on the bus is introspective and somehow melancholic; there's something about being alone on public transportation that naturally makes humans feel like the main characters of their own coming-of-age story, with the subsequent thoughts and doubts that arise in our mind from it. The song and the video do a good job of matching each other; the nostalgia and emotion we see in the video is perfectly captured in the melody and lyrics of the song.
Narrated from the point of view of the father of said young man who’s torned between the pain of saying goodbye to a loved one and the hope that he may live a better life, lyrics like “Now take your chance and sail as far as you can row” and “May the wind blow your boat far away from the storms” are just the perfect reassuring phrases one in this situation needs to hear. The first-person point of view and the universality of the topics treated and how easily they can adjust to any situation where doubt and fear may be born inside of us—this song is perfect to calm the inner voice in our head and wait for the future with the head held high and the safety of having someone who cares for us right behind us.
