Synth Single Review: “In Your Room” by The Lightning Kids & SelloRekt / LA Dreams

by Karl Magi

The Lightning Kids & SelloRekt / LA Dreams’ “In Your Room” starts with a static crackle before a speeding drum beat comes in and Emma Ballantine’s voice, like a dream from the past, climbs with airy ease and captures the melancholy sense within the lyrics. A chiming synth glows like a city skyline and the chorus rises with vibrant strength while a guitar flickers with uplifting sensations.

Love and thwarted passion combine in the vocals, affecting me with their mingled emotional complexity. The percussion interlocks with the guitar to create flowing motion, supporting the luscious performance from Emma Ballantine. Chord changes glisten like twilight growing on the edge of the sunset. Nostalgia and remembrance intertwine in the vocals before a guitar solo captures a thrilling emotional tenor along with a hint of sadness before the song closes out.

The main character sits in the song subject’s bedroom, glancing at the posters on their wall and thinking, "this isn't why you brought me here, this isn't what I came to see." She finds herself breaking up and falling down, adding, "I'm lost in time, I'm shaking now." It feels good when the other person says her name.

"All your secrets that you tell me and all those dreams you let me see" show our storyteller everything that the song's subject is as they play their old guitar, sitting next to her. The lights are turned down low as the other person plays their records, moving slowly. They dance in the dark and she says, "this isn't why I'm here with you, it's tearing me apart."