“Boundless talent from surprising youth.” That is the quickest summary one can give of singer-songwriter Bella Stine, who at just 16 years of age is already so full of promise and creative instinct that simply nobody will be able to contain the inevitable explosion in recognition that’s waiting to happen.
With just two singles out, it may sound like we’re getting ahead of ourselves by hyping Bella up so much, but it really only takes two songs to confirm that she knows what she’s doing and that we better listen carefully to her proposal. Bella Stine has spent the past few years turning her life experiences into her debut EP. She describes music as her primary outlet, allowing her life and the complications she faces to fuel her creative energy. Bella’s musical style has been described as reminiscent of Mazzy Star’s dream-pop sound, however, as we heard in her debut single, she’s not afraid to incorporate more electronic elements, and as we’ll hear in today’s release, she can also borrow a bit from indie pop and rock at her leisure for great effect.
This time, Bella’s silky, heavenly vocals take us on a new audiovisual journey titled “Pale Flame”, which leans on her strengths as a more “classical” singer-songwriter accompanied first by a lone guitar, followed by some of the nicest alt-pop backings I’ve heard since ‘Hoops’ dissolved. An incredibly exciting release that I just couldn’t stop listening to.
Pale Flame is all about that relation that’s flickering away. You’ve read the writing on the wall, and the light is dimming, while the warmth is receding, you know it’s coming and it’s both sad and nerve-wracking at the same time. The video Plays a lot with light and shadows to home in on these themes.
“Pale Flame focuses on those final moments, right before it’s over, but not quite. By the time I wrote this song, I wasn’t in a fiery war. I was going through a quiet battle of knowing how everything was going to be but still processing it fully. While recording, we actually blew out a lit candle to capture that sound. I love how stripped down the song is and absolutely I loved recording live strings for the cinematic/orchestral ending.” – Bella Stine.
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