Reetoxa’s “Amber” hits like a memory that’s been waiting nearly thirty years to speak up again. What began in 1995 as a love poem scribbled by a heartbroken teenager has now resurfaced as one of the most explosive and emotionally charged tracks on Pines Salad. Jason McKee revisits his earliest moment of artistic clarity and channels it through decades of lived experience, turning that vulnerable teenage spark into a fully realised grunge-rock firestorm. A song rarely carries both the urgency of youth and the weight of adulthood, but “Amber” manages exactly that. The track feels like a bridge between who McKee was when he first wrote it and the artist he’s become—raw, reflective, and completely unwilling to hide behind polished sentiment.
From the first hit of distortion, “Amber” makes its intentions clear. This is a track built on the timeless philosophy of three chords and the truth, and Reetoxa squeezes every drop of emotion from that simplicity. The guitars snarl with a thick grunge tone that instantly recalls the mid-’90s underground, but the delivery is far from retro cosplay. There’s a distinctly Australian rock swagger running through every bar—a kind of pub-rock defiance that gives the song its backbone. McKee’s vocals rise out of the mix with a textured grit, the kind that feels lived-in rather than performed. You can hear the ache, the frustration, the lingering “what if,” but you can also hear resilience. Even in its heaviest moments, “Amber” never folds under its own weight; it pushes forward.
Part of what makes the track so captivating is the way it balances its emotional origins with a modern, high-energy execution. As Track 3, it bursts into the album like a flame—the sort of song that immediately shifts the mood and demands the listener’s full attention. The structure is lean, the rhythm section driving with a tight ferocity that gives the guitars room to breathe and roar. You feel the pulse of the song in your ribs. And while its roots lie in a teenager’s heartbreak, its sound—big, blistering, and unapologetically alive—belongs to an artist who now knows how to command a room. Reetoxa doesn’t hide inside nostalgia, but uses it as fuel.
Lyrically, “Amber” remains anchored to the truth of its origin. This was a song born from a moment when life abruptly flipped, when outside voices and the opinions of others shattered what felt like the beginning of something real. Instead of letting that pain evaporate, McKee crystallised it. “Amber” is essentially a message—to her, to himself, to anyone who listens—urging the heart to speak louder than the crowd. It’s about choosing feeling over fear, instinct over interference. And that message lands with more force now than it would have in 1995, precisely because McKee delivers it with the clarity of hindsight. The song serves as a universal reminder of how easily we let others rewrite our endings.
In its final moments, “Amber” leaves a lingering echo that speaks to why the track endures. A song written at the edge of adolescence shouldn’t still feel this relevant, this fresh, this piercing—but Reetoxa proves that authenticity ages well. By breathing new fire into a teenage confession, McKee preserves the vulnerability of the past while sharpening it with the power of experience. “Amber” stands as one of the most emotionally resonant and sonically gripping cuts on Pines Salad, a testament to the idea that some truths don’t fade with time, but only burn brighter when rediscovered.
For more information, follow Reetoxa:
Spotify – Anghami – Distrokid – Boomplay
