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Photo: Dillon Matthew

Following the praise she received for her previous singles “Stripes” and “Frank,” indie singer-songwriter Alix Page is back with another heart-string pulling, autobiographical track, “25.” The reflective, alt-pop song was written over the course of six months, following the dissolution of a long-illed relationship, and was produced by Half Alive’s Brett Kramer, mixed by Yianni AP, and mastered by Dave Cooley.

“25” begins with Page describing how she was running errands for her mom, missed her exit, and ended up having to drive through the neighborhood of her ex’s old house. “I remember being super caught off guard and pretty much writing the whole first verse at stoplights for the rest of that drive,” confesses Page. She then begins to daydream about re-encountering her former lover someday, wondering where and when it would occur and coming to the conclusion it would probably be at a show when they’re around twenty-five. The song then explores the concept of letting go, coinciding with growing up and looking ahead at the future.

Page’s lyricism is full of intricate storytelling, grief, and growth. This is especially evident in lines like, “Your name’s getting sour, it wasn’t supposed to / Always such a sweetheart till someone adores you.” According to the California native, before she wrote “25,” she never thought she would be able to be mad at the guy at the heart of the single. “He was always everyone’s favorite person in every room, and I had a huge soft spot for him,” she shares. “It hurts that much more when someone like that shows you a new side of them that totally breaks that perception.”

The sentimental and existential air that fuels the track seeps into the accompanying music video and explores her newfound perspective further. Viewers are met with scenes of nostalgic imagery similar to a coming-of-age movie. The bursts of guitar riffs act as a green light for a flashing montage of romantic and tender memories. “I’d been bouncing this idea around in my head for a while where there’s one thing happening in linear time while flashing back and forth to other moments, all leading up to a reveal that ties the whole thing together and opens it up.” says Page. “In the video, that linear thing ended up being one long drive to meet this guy, played by Tyler Gebo, and the flashback moments you see are memories from the relationship that I’m reliving on that drive.”

It’s evident in the video for “25,” which was shot in three days, that the working relationship between Page and director Tanner Deutsch was full of shared creative control and collaboration. “In the early brainstorming stages, we just talked a lot about our own relationships and our favorite memories from them and tried to incorporate a lot of those into the video,” shares Page. “There was a lot of overlap with our experiences in addition to our style influences and favorite creatives, so that was really fun to talk through and plan out. In preparation, I made him watch Beginners, and he made me watch Donnie Darko. Those two movies were some of the key inspiration for the whole video."  

Page went on to add that the most challenging part of the shoot was either trying to keep an illegal campfire under wraps at the beach or all the takes of her running up a hill in a party dress and loafers. "The fun surprise of it all was the dance scene in the living room. I did ballet pretty seriously till I was 12, and Tyler danced for a really long time too, so we started messing around with a few steps, and Tanner thought it was sweet, and it ended up making the video.”

“25” will be included in Page’s upcoming EP Old News, which is about falling back and getting stuck into old habits. All the songs on the EP except one were written during the 2020 lockdown. Instead of leaving for college as she had planned, she found herself still living at home and out of that frustration came her upcoming record. “Every song also deals with some kind of confession, whether it’s actually saying something to a person or just admitting something to myself,” reveals Page. “I think a lot of that was just coming out of the most confusing year and needing to break a lot of silences to get clarity and make sense of my life.”

Watch the “25” video below: