By Mike Sain't Louis ·
The Northern Lights: reggae, smoke and a light of your own
Not everything on my planet is drama and revenge. The Northern Lights is a song for breathing deeply. I wrote it thinking of a slow exhalation, with a reggae heartbeat that glows in the dark like the auroras in the title.
It's a song that moves slowly, among smoke, colour and calm. Each verse floats like a soft cloud, mixing dream and fire, rhythm and silence. It's in no hurry to get anywhere, and that's precisely its charm. It forces you to slow down.
For me it's about peace and connection. About that quiet joy that only appears when you stop pretending. When you take off the armour, stop performing for others and let your own light come out by itself, without forcing it. The northern lights are just that: an enormous spectacle that happens in silence, without anyone organising it.
For those who dance at night
I like to think this song belongs to those who dance with the night. To those who light up their own sky when the world turns grey. Those people who, instead of complaining about the darkness, pull colours out of nowhere. We all know someone like that, and if not, maybe it's your turn to be that person.
Reggae seemed to me the perfect rhythm for this idea. It has something of a sway, of a loose body, of a long summer. It's music that demands nothing, that keeps you company. And the smoke, which appears again and again in the song, gives it a dreamy touch, of an afternoon that stretches on without you noticing.
There's something almost meditative about it. Breathe in peace, breathe out the noise. That would be the instructions for use if the song came with a leaflet. And then, light everything up like the northern lights.
I'd dedicate it to whoever is coming out of a rough patch and needs a breather, to friends who gather on a terrace at sundown and to anyone who has finally decided to stop keeping up appearances. Put it on on a rooftop at nightfall, in good company or alone. It also works really well on a long car journey, with the window down and no fixed destination.