To begin with, 'The Girl From the Other Side' makes you feel all the emotions, from sadness to hope and just everything in between. It immediately becomes clear how Jann-Aron loved someone deeply and felt the sting of missing her. Also, it brings back memories for him as he feels lost and stuck in time while walking through life, holding onto the past.
Now, listening to the music, you get this mix of creative instrumentals, managing to hold onto the emotions and keep the feelings alive. Overall, you have some atmospheric keys, strings, guitars, drums, and bass all working together. Upon taking a closer look, first, the keys in the mix stand out. Sometimes they sound like a natural piano, soft and comforting, and other times they switch to these shiny, electronic tones, almost like a synth, giving it this sort of dreamy, sparkly edge.
Things are pretty much dynamic with constant shifts in the range and overall arrangement when it comes to these instruments. Everything kind of takes turns in the spotlight, fading in and out as the song morphs from one part to the next. The rhythm section, though, feels a bit tighter, thanks to the way the drums are compressed, and they’re supported so nicely by all the bursts of orchestration happening around them. Eventually, everything starts climbing to a higher pitch, which makes it feel like the emotions are building up and getting heavier. Then, right when it’s at its peak, it all just drops and fades away. Honestly, it’s such a well-done composition by Jann, especially considering how many elements he’s juggling all on his own within such a limited space.
But, at the centre of all this, there's an entirely different experience and yes, I am talking about Jann-Aron's voice. It’s the kind of performance that hits differently because you can tell he may have lived through that pain in real life. It’s authentic and you feel it with every word he sings. Similar to the instrumental, on the lower pitch, the vocals are calm and quite downhearted, giving out this subtle raspy tone. But then on the higher end, the tone sounds direct, unrestrained in a way. Besides the way Jann-Aron uses his voice, a lot of that soothing, grand vibe comes from the reverb and delay effects. They really stretch out the vocals, making them feel bigger and more emotional like they’re reaching out or just completely surrounding you.
Moving on to the lyrics, this song starts with a beautiful but sad image of snow falling over a lake. Then there’s a part about Jann walking to a quiet house no one else knows about. This house feels like a secret spot, sounds like it’s just in his mind but can be a real place tied to his memories. But it surely is somewhere he goes to feel close to someone he’s lost. Sadly, here’s the thing, he’s completely alone in this space, which is heartbreaking as this space becomes his personal little corner of misery and attachment.
Then there’s this yet another sad part where Jann kind of feels like he wasn’t good enough for the person he’s missing. The backstory can be anything, possibly she chose someone else or she’s gone for good, but this doubt is exactly what's hitting him really hard. Regardless, Jann still holds onto little moments, like a smile or a quiet goodnight, it's rather sweet and means that even though he’s lost this person, those small memories bring him at least some level of comfort. Particularly, there’s this peaceful, kind of melancholic image of saying goodbye under the rain or stars.
Anyways, there's this mysterious part about some curse left behind. Not sure, as it could mean a lot of things like maybe it’s about grief or something more symbolic. Whatever it is, it’s keeping Jann-Aron apart from the person he’s missing. But even with this “curse,” he says he’s not giving up, like he’s still going to try to find her again, which adds that hopeful moment this song needs, to have some sort of positive aspect to hold on to. Finally, this song ends with Jann singing about leaving flowers by her side, accepting that she’s not coming back. But even so, he still wants to honour her.