We previously featured ReeToxA when they delivered a heartfelt celebration of enduring connection on Love Keeps Burning Still, so naturally, when we heard that they were back with Bottle, we couldn’t wait to listen and share our experience.
Bottle opens with a fierce, punk guitar soundscape with textured drums and a situational narrative. In essence, the song is about teenage friendship, mental health, and the desire to escape difficult circumstances.
It unfolds in a very relatable, relevant, and zeitgeist way as a reflection of how a lot of us deal with issues in this day and age. We learn that it was actually inspired by real events from frontman Jason McKee‘s youth. It zooms in on the struggles of young people dealing with emotional challenges, unstable home lives, and the hope that they could build a better future together.
The band tells us, “Jason was on his second date with high school sweetheart, Jody, when Nicole, Jody’s best friend called saying she could not get her medication as her parents had put it on the top shelf locked. Jason and Jody run to her house a few blocks from Jody’s to help her.”
They add, “Mental health care is poor in Australia to this day but back in the 90’s it was brushed under the table and barely spoken about. Jason and Nicole having rough times with mental health and home life conspired with Jody on how we could all live together somehow. A teenage rebellion story about mateship.”
It’s really poetically and compassionately executed; it is thought-provoking punk at its finest. We could imagine it being featured in a TV show like 13 Reasons Why, or a movie like American Pie, which touches on these themes.
It turns out that Jason wrote this when he was just fifteen, and the song was finally recorded more than 30 years later with producer Simon Moro. Whilst preserving its 1990s alternative rock spirit, the recording updates the track with modern production and performances from a band of musicians who share the same grunge-era influences.
Needless to say, we are in awe, and we absorb the gravitas of the track by taking in with water and settling down ourselves. We have added Bottle to our New Music Spotlight playlist, and our TIMELESS playlist, whilst we continue to stream ReeToxA‘s exquisite, growing discography.