There are songs inspired by heroes, and then there are songs that feel like someone opening the door to a moment that changed their entire life. Reetoxa’s “Dancing With Lou” belongs firmly in the second category. Written by Melbourne artist Jason McKee, the track looks back to 1995, when a friend’s father introduced the then-15-year-old McKee to Lou Reed’s solo work, beginning with The Blue Mask. In a teenage world dominated by grunge and alternative rock, that vinyl became a revelation. The conversations, the music and the sheer freedom of Reed’s songwriting opened McKee’s mind to the possibility of writing without censorship. That sense of artistic liberation is still at the heart of Reetoxa’s music today.
“Dancing With Lou” takes that influence and gives it its own personality. McKee wanted raw rock ’n’ roll, but he also wanted something people could actually move to, and the result carries a loose, energetic pulse that gives the song its dancefloor edge. The lineup is equally impressive, with Peter Marin of JET on drums, James Ryan on guitar and Kit Riley on bass, while McKee handles the vocals, lyrics and songwriting. Recorded at The Avenue studio in Cheltenham and mixed and mastered by Simon Moro, the track has the attitude of classic rock without feeling trapped in nostalgia. There is something wonderfully human about the story behind it too: McKee eventually met Reed during the Ecstasy tour, only to be so overwhelmed that Reed had to steady his trembling arm while signing a poster. That framed autograph now hangs as a permanent reminder of where the journey began.
What gives “Dancing With Lou” its real weight is that it isn’t simply a tribute to an influential musician. It is about what happens when another artist gives you permission to become yourself. That makes the song a perfect fit within Soliloquy, an album born during the isolation of lockdown and an intense period of songwriting that McKee describes as the most extraordinary creative experience of his life. There is a beautiful circularity here: a teenager discovers Lou Reed and learns to write without fear; decades later, that lesson becomes a song of his own. “Sometimes a record doesn’t just change what you listen to—it changes what you believe you’re allowed to say.” Dancing With Lou is Reetoxa at its most personal, unfiltered and alive, turning admiration into something much more valuable: an artistic legacy passed from one restless songwriter to another.
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