Amber: a track of 1995 and still breathes fire

Amber by Reetoxa landed in my headphones like a flashback. The artwork pulled me in first: the donkey mask, the older gents in floral shirts, smoke drifting around them as if they’d stepped out of a forgotten film reel. I’ve met enough artists to recognise when someone puts their truth out there without sanding the edges.

Jason McKee wrote Amber back in the 90s grit of Frankston. His first song. A love poem turned into chords during a time when everything felt urgent. That part struck me. I’ve spent years shaping lines out of moments that barely made sense at the time, hoping they’d land somewhere good later.

Amber now sits on Pines Salad – a fourteen-track album named with local slang humour, and loaded with outsider storytelling and modern-grunge weight. It hits as track two, right after Alcohol and before Avocat Court. Kinda well defended though. For a piece birthed in 1995 and carried across decades, that number feels like a small victory.

A donkey at the center of the room

The opening line “I feel like a donkey in a thoroughbred show” sets the whole mood. The cover mirrors it perfectly: a man standing still while the world behind him drifts into hell. I stared at it longer than usual. Feeling out of place becomes a quiet companion after a certain age.

Jason pushed hard for that opening line. You can hear that effort in the song’s backbone. Every word drops with that straightforward 90s weight. three chords and a heart trying to explain itself.

The story behind Amber sits in a familiar place: he thought he’d finally found the girl, but people around her had louder opinions. Instead of stepping aside, he used the song to urge her to follow her own heart. Simple motive, strong pulse.

Grunge bones, Aussie dust, and a restless heart

Reetoxa today feels like both the past and the present stitched together. Jason’s life pulled him through loss, trouble, and long nights that demanded honesty. Even the band name comes from his AA days – a detail that colours the project with lived reality.

The Pine Salad album took shape with a serious crew around him: producer Simon Moro, engineer Joe Carra, and players like Pete Marin, James Ryan, Kit Riley, and Phil Turcio. They built a sound that mixes grunge, Aussie pub rock, and unfiltered lyricism.

Fragments from Amber echo easily: Where do I stand / Where do I stand with you? And there’s a line about ashes and vengeance at Spanish Head – at least that’s how it hits the ear – and it drops with a strange, private weight.

A song that lived, slept, and woke up again

I’ve crossed paths with Reetoxa before, back when Call and Papa Loves Ladyboys slipped into my day and stayed longer than planned. Amber stirred the same drawer of memories – the people from my own 90s, the ones who drifted away before I knew how to hold things properly. This track travelled far: written in youth, left in notebooks, surviving heavier chapters, then rebuilt for this album. That long road gave it a quiet force.

Amber feels carried, not manufactured. A grunge-leaning love story shaped by time, scars, and a steady kind of hope. Reetoxa is stepping into a strong year, and this piece stands as one of those songs that stayed alive long enough to finally speak.

Catch up with Reetoxa on Facebook, Instagram, Spotify, and YouTube – the trail is easy to follow, the stories worth the click.

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