Music Video Review – Elina Filice – Thinking of You

Hello, hello everyone! Today I’ve the immense pleasure of introducing you to Elina Filice, a singer/songwriter of Canadian origin based in Dublin and also the founder of music consultancy company Red Vine Music. Coming from a musical family, Elina has been writing and playing music for years. It was only natural that she found herself in Dublin completing a Diploma in Songwriting and integrating herself into Dublin’s music scene, a place she felt was right for her to continue developing and growing as an artist and, needless to say, we glad she decided to stay.

With influence ranging from the blues to spoken word, Elina’s music is bluesy with currents of pop and funk underneath. Elina has fantastically catchy choruses which make her songs real earworms. Prior to this release, Elina released an EP (Elina + the Kicks) and singles ‘Disappear,’ ‘West Coast’ and ‘House Song.’ ‘Thinking of You’ has amassed over 210 thousand streams since it’s release and I’m hoping she keeps on track because her music so far has been amazing.

So, for the first time on our blog, we are not only reviewing the song but also the upcoming music video which I will break into two parts: Visuals and Music. To me, there’s no sense in reviewing a music video if all I discuss is the song itself so let’s get this show on the road and see how it goes. To keep up to date with all of Elina’s releases you should follow her on Instagram, Twitter and YouTube and all of her current releases can be found on Spotify and all good streaming services. The official video for ‘Thinking of You’ drops September 4th (today).

Visuals

So, first and foremost, the video was directed by Phil Kim and stars Elina and Ally Cantalini and was shot in Toronto, Canada and gives us some beautiful, colourful backdrops for the video and unique focal points surrounding Elina.

So, what initially struck me about this video is whether the times with Ally are actual moments or if they are memories. It makes you question if Elina is travelling around the city reminiscing or is Ally perhaps behind the camera as they travel together. We can also ask whether this journey that Elina is taking is an effort to move on or an effort to return to a loved one after time apart. The video shows Elina in constant motion, constantly doing things, unless she is the safe haven of the bedroom where she can stop and just be. I will point out that some of the transitions between shots in this video are better executed that Hollywood films and prove that, with a little effort and editing, transitions can be used to great effect and they really get behind the theme of travelling and movement as the cuts show the expansive area that Elina has travelled around in a quick and effortless way.

An aspect of this video that I loved were the moments with Ally which seem so tender and loving and the inclusion of these shows a very realistic portrayal of love. It’s simple and sweet. It seems fitting that the view of romantic love between these two women is in the small moments alone between them. Elina describes the video as a “push for honest queer visibility” and depicts the couple in a very honest, open manner. The video follows Elina around the city, interspersed with moments in the bedroom alone or with Ally, which really brings the viewer back to the question: are the moments with Ally reality or memories? That is until, we see near the end of the video, Ally disappearing and Elina left alone in the bedroom which possibly confirms that the more sepia toned images of them together are in fact the memories that are left (however I will, of course, let you make that decision for yourself). In roughly 4 and a half minutes, the video captures the journey and its destination and the narrative behind the song but, as the viewer, we are left asking if Elina is still ‘Thinking of You’.

Music

‘Thinking of You’ is a stunning blend of funk, some bluesy undertones and pop with a little hip hop. This is a song of movement and, even in the way that it is performed, there is a sense of quick movement over the lyrics; never dwelling too long on the words of the verses. I quite enjoy how the theme seems to have influenced the performance aspect of the song. The underlying guitar rift is immediately identifiable and makes the track stand out all the more and really creates that funk/blues vibe.

Lyrically, the track is nostalgic and is somewhere between rap and spoken word throughout the verses while the chorus has this catchy, almost nursery rhyme-esque quality to it. It can be easily learned but not so easily forgotten. The lyrics are very narratively focused; it’s very clear that Elina is telling a story and to understand it you need only to listen to what she’s saying. The song looks back and seems to highlight the cyclical nature of the journey that is love and may even inspire the question: ‘with all that you’ve learned of love would you be any better off if you could do it all over again?’ The song seems, for the most part, to be a love song regretting the end of a relationship but it also strikes me as Elina asking real questions about her approach to love.

“So unpack your baggage, leave it behind if you don’t need it now but keep all your journals as records of how you became the motherf*cker you are now” – let’s just say that this message is simple and effective to say the least and one that I’ll be taking to the bank but, don’t just take my word for it, have a look for yourself.