Youth is a cover version of the hauntingly beautiful song by British indie folk trio Daughter. That original version is a spellbound song about the scars we inflict upon ourselves as we grow, vocalist Elena Tonra’s delivery dramatic precisely because of how restrained it is. When she sings “Collecting names of the lovers that went wrong,” Tonra does so knowing just how much weight her words carry.
In contrast, French musician Amélie G. provides a darker, more dramatic take. A lesson in acoustic atmospherics, this version of Youth is cold, brittle, and cold… It’s the late night walk through urban sprawl, dejected and alone. The glitchy electronic production and sweeping strings Amélie employs create that foreboding sense of modern loneliness with purpose. Describing the song, Amélie says:
“What I wanted to show with this song and the video, is that feeling of loneliness within a crowd or a group of people, and the difficulty of being heard. When you are with people and somehow feel invisible, inexistent.”
The sense of being on your own despite being in a crowd can be one of the most alienating sensations. There have been times when I have been in the presence of people I know, trust and love, yet still felt like I am not really there… Not really understood.
Amélie’s response to her feelings is to swallow the words of Youth like bitter little pills. They feel less like the observations of someone wryly describing their brutal emotions than in the throes of them. The track throbs with a raw energy, squeaky electronics grinding away behind clattering drums.
And it is drums where Amélie started, playing them at age six, learning jazz. But she subsequently found her passion and joined a metal band at 14. Having gone on to graduate with a degree in psychology, Amélie’s path was changed when she won a European competition for a scholarship to study at the music school of BIMM in London. She both fell in love with the city, and elevated her musical output to the professional level.
Following Amélie’s debut single last year, Cut Me Deeper, she donated Youth to the musical part of charitable organisation A Left To Stand On (ALTSO), which raises funds to provide critical and life-changing mobility treatments to children in developing countries.
Check out the Soundcloud below, and then a different take in the form of the song’s video, which include’s Amélie playing a live drum solo.