Hi, I’m Miller Blue. I hope that wherever you are in the world you are doing well and that life is being kind to you. I’m here to tell you a little bit about my track “Headlights“.
With this song I wanted to create a world that encapsulates the feeling of infatuation. Lyrically, melodically, sonically, and well, quite honestly in as many ways as possible.
I’ve always loved the idea that you can capture a thousand words within a photograph and similarly with music, I believe that you can capture, recall and relive the past as well as releasing withheld emotions in the present. It’s magic.
When sitting down to write the bulk of this song that’s exactly what I was doing. Pulling memories from the past and releasing them in the present.
The origins of “Headlights” actually came around 6 months prior to this. I was living in Canada with my ex-partner. She’s also an artist and at the time was feeling uninspired so asked me to play some chords on the guitar to see if it sparked anything.
After a while, I floated on two melancholic chords and POOF. She began singing and out came a flow of consciousness. I didn’t know it at the time but part of this voicenote would end up becoming the first part of the hook both melodically and lyrically “you’ve got me like a deer in the headlights”.
Upon revisiting this, I knew there was something there but it didn’t quite fit what I was hearing. So I sat, acoustic guitar in hand, and played around for a while. I landed on a lovely set of chords that you can hear in the final version. From here I just sang until I felt I had a good general structure.
The lyrics themselves took a little while longer to show themselves. During the process of writing and recording my new EP I spent a lot of time at what has become my favourite cinema in London ‘The Prince Charles Theatre’.
At the time, I was actually healing from a breakup and for some reason or other kept returning to this cinema, taking myself on solo dates. It is here that I found the films of Wong Kar Wai, a Hong Kong Based film director.
They spoke to me. They managed to portray love & heartbreak in ways I’d never seen before. Subtle, humble and delicate. His films became a big muse for my sonics on the record as well as the general colour palette for the visuals.
Speaking of visuals. There was a period of time in which I struggled to know how to execute my ideas for the music videos. With a big vision and a fairly small budget, I found myself with a predicament that sat with me for a while.
Then, by chance, I stumbled upon a series of AI generated videos on TikTok created by a Manchester based Jazz/Hip-Hop band named OMA. They were stunning and many of the visuals they were creating were for songs that I loved, like “Figaro” by MADVILLAIN (MF Doom & Madlib) and “Feather” by Nujabes.
I was obsessed with how beautiful they were so I reached out the guys and laid out my vision in hope of being able to bring it to life. They loved the music, the ideas and the rest is history. Turns out, we have similar tastes which I feel really helped the process.
Using references from Akira, The Matrix, Cowboy Bebop and various Wong Kar Wai Films, we honed in on a style we all felt worked. And well, they turned out better than I’d ever expected. Honestly, I cannot wait to share the other 3 parts of the story with you all.
Watch the video for “Headlights” here and stream it everywhere else here.
Stay blessed, Miller
