‘You Shine On Me’ is the latest single from Thomas Oliver’s recently-released album, THE BRIGHTEST LIGHT.
An accompanying video for the track is released today. ‘You Shine On Me’ is a Motown-inspired Soul/Pop song, with plenty of Thomas Oliver signature falsetto singing and an extended metaphor of the warm glow of love in an otherwise gloomy Berlin day.
“Bella Florence (my dear friend, ex-girlfriend, and backing vocalist for my live band) came to stay with me in Berlin for a few months,” says Oliver of the track.
“I surprised her at Tegel airport when she landed, and we boarded the bus to head back to Neukölln. It was a fairly grey day in Berlin, but even more grim was the energy on the bus. Expressionless faces everywhere we looked. Seemingly unhappy people surrounded us. As more and more blank-faced people boarded the bus, Bella and I were separated until we were standing almost at opposite ends of the bus, clinging to railings and luggage. Every time we caught each other’s eye, both of our faces would burst into a huge smile. We tried to contain it (I suppose because we didn’t want to appear to be “showing off” our happiness in front of all these sombre people), but we completely failed and it ruled us for most of the journey. It was incredible. She truly shone to me in that bus. ‘You Shine On Me’ is based on that moment, and the following few months in which she lit up my life in Berlin.”
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The concept for the ‘You Shine On Me’ music video was devised by Mitch Lowe (Thomas Oliver’s manager), inspired by the song’s references to colour and light and its vibrant energy. The pre-production involved Oliver and Lowe scanning the city of Wellington for anything that fell into the category of the three primary colours – red, yellow and blue. Armed with shoes, shirts, hats, sunglasses, musical instruments, juggling balls, fruit, novelty hands, balloons, and a fire extinguisher, the pair then employed friend and world-renowned instrument maker, Tony Francis, to create a few custom pieces – including a big yellow sun, a yellow sketch book and a yellow table-and-chairs.
The video was shot by DOP Simon Godsiff(Thunderbirds) and edited by Oliver on the two days after Christmas. The post production was done in Wellington by Squid Kelly, Pat O’Sullivan and Lee Gingold.
Get THE BRIGHTEST LIGHT on Apple and Spotify.
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