Synth Single Review: “What You Are to Me” by Color Theory

by Karl Magi

Color Theory’s “What You Are to Me” is tender but full of shadowy undertones. The song begins as a piano floats upward, the quickly jumping beat joined by a glassy synth. Resonating bass rumbles as the piano washes in a pastel glide, full of lightness and freshness. Color Theory’s unmistakably melancholy and gentle voice drifts with a serene melody.

The piano sails with laid-back ease as Color Theory catches the lyrics with his aching performance. I enjoy his distinctive sound as it carries me along while a prismatic synth floats past and the xylophone trips, rich tones adding depth as they ring out. The vocal performance is full of softness and the piano dances with a light touch, skipping past like a summer breeze.

Color Theory’s velvety vocals encapsulate the song’s wistful quality. Drums tap smoothly as crystalline tones intertwine while the piano frolics past. The steady beat breaks as the vocals echo, reflecting the lyrics’ emotional depth. A mood somewhere between relaxation and contemplation fills the song as the piano carries the music to an end.

Our narrator says the song’s subject will never know what they are to him. He continues, “I’ve never been one for honesty, you’re such an impossibility, an anomaly.” As the other person bites their lip, stomps on the ground, paints the sky and spins around, he reflects on how “we conjure this playground that we share.” He asks the other person to close their eyes, because he’ll be hiding somewhere and concludes, “Someday I may tell you everything, embarrassed to stroke your angel wings.”