Some songs play like stories, and then some songs feel like memories — fleeting, intoxicating, and slightly dangerous. Chellcy Reitsma’s “Chemicals” belongs firmly in the latter category. From its very first notes, the Dutch-American artist crafts a world that feels suspended between dream and reality — a midnight bay shimmering under the northern sun, where love and addiction blur into one another. Known for her unique fusion of blues, alt-rock, and Americana, Reitsma uses her deep, smoky voice like a painter uses shadow. The result is a song that feels vintage and modern, timeless and immediate, as if unearthed from some cinematic love story that never truly ended.
“Chemicals” begins with the kind of imagery that could open a film: “Met you on a boat, floating in a bay of dreams.” It’s hypnotic, almost mythical, set in “a land of lore and love,” yet it carries a chill beneath its surface warmth. Reitsma’s lyrics move between sensuality and danger, weaving a tale of two people bound by something stronger — and stranger — than affection. When she sings, “There is no love, just chemicals between us,” the line lands with haunting simplicity. It’s a confession and a realisation — that what binds us to another isn’t always romantic, sometimes it’s biological, elemental, or purely instinctive. The repetition of the word “chemicals” becomes a mantra, a descent into obsession that mirrors how desire can feel like both liberation and captivity.
The production of “Chemicals” matches its lyrical depth perfectly. The guitars are drenched in reverb, curling around the vocals like smoke, while the percussion moves slowly and deliberately, like the heartbeat of a secret. Each note feels carefully placed, yet effortlessly natural, as though the song itself is breathing. Reitsma’s voice sits right at the centre — sultry but resolute — carrying a vulnerability that commands attention without ever begging for it. There’s something cinematic in the way the track unfolds, each verse painting a scene, each chorus pulling you deeper into the emotional tide. It’s easy to imagine “Chemicals” playing over a moonlit montage — two lovers entwined, bound not by promises but by the magnetic pull of attraction and self-destruction.
What’s striking about Reitsma’s songwriting is her ability to balance storytelling with atmosphere. She doesn’t just sing about emotion, but creates it in real time. When she croons, “Wrapped your hands around my neck, so tight I could not breathe,” it’s not violence that comes through, but surrender — the loss of self in the rush of passion. Every line feels like a confession whispered to the dark. The track’s pacing, neither hurried nor indulgent, mirrors the slow burn of realisation — that this connection, however intoxicating, may not be love at all. It’s this honesty, this willingness to stare straight into the grey areas of human connection, that makes “Chemicals” so powerful. Reitsma doesn’t offer solutions or solace, but offers truth.
By the end of “Chemicals,” you’re left with a lingering ache — not of heartbreak, but of recognition. Chellcy Reitsma has turned something deeply personal into a universal reflection on the biology of love and the illusions we build around it. The repetition of the phrase “Dancing in the land of the midnight sun” feels like a closing image: haunting, cyclical, endless. It suggests that even when the story ends, the chemistry remains — invisible, uncontrollable, eternal. With “Chemicals,” Reitsma has created an atmosphere, a shadowed emotional landscape where longing and lucidity coexist. It’s haunting, brave, and impossibly beautiful — the kind of track that stays with you long after the music fades, echoing like a secret you can’t quite forget.
