Reetoxa opens a window onto an intimate world on "Avocet Court," a song that seems like a journal entry whispered to the wind, refracted into glints of rebellion and reflection. Inspired by his own teenage years growing up in Carrum Downs, Victoria, the track describes the blistering push and pull undertow of wanting to fit in and barely being able to get out.
Centered around dreamy textures and a slow burn of emotion, "Avocet Court" feels like a whispered confession. There's an intimate aura to the production, airy but rooted in some place that makes room for Reetoxa's voice, which can carry both openness and defiance. Beneath its gentle surface hovers the story of a young artist grappling with expectations at home and school, caught between conformity and creativity.
"Avocet Court" is thrilling not just for its melody, but for the sincerity through which it's wrought. Reetoxa's escape isn't romantic, it's imbued with that tension, the without even leaving town-ness of wanting to run away for Sydney but never quite getting there. It's that pause, what might have been lingering, that gives the song its touching heartbeat.
The track is striking, still, you can all but see Carrum Downs streetlights flicker against the night as Reetoxa dreams of a city skyline far, far away. It's the sound of a person on the brink of change, quietly brave in their uncertainty.