There’s a curious sort of old-soul gravity to Amelina’s single, “Step by Step,” one that defies the pop-rock sheen and the artist’s young age. The track opens with a resolute, almost stern, string and piano line that feels less like an invitation to a party and more like the sound of someone tying their shoelaces before a long journey. This is the sound of sheer will. It’s a rhythmic, determined core that persists even as the arrangement swells around it.
That percussive piano immediately brought to mind the uneven, then steady, tapping of a cobbler at a bench, slowly working a single piece of leather into something durable and new. It’s an odd thought, but the song feels handmade in that same way. The verses build with a controlled anxiety—that feeling of the “clock’s against me”—before the chorus doesn’t just arrive; it detonates, a sudden bloom of widescreen optimism. It’s a beautifully simple, and frankly quite clever, dynamic that mirrors the very struggle it describes.
Lyrically, Amelina plays with time like a philosopher twice her age, viewing it as both a relentless antagonist and an eventual ally. The mantra, “step by step I climb the hill,” is refreshingly devoid of empty platitudes. It doesn’t promise a shortcut or a sudden miraculous ascent; it champions the small, grinding victories that actually lead somewhere. Knowing this is fueled by her own cultural and linguistic relocation from Russia to Spain gives the theme a tangible, authentic weight that can’t be faked.
The song doesn’t coddle you. It’s an anthem, but a pragmatic one. It leaves you with a quiet, persistent energy, the kind you feel after solving a stubborn puzzle rather than winning a lottery. It poses a strangely disarming question without ever asking it: which hill are you putting off climbing?
