Egyptian duo FHMY and AQL are rising artists in the music industry, carving out space in the region’s largely unexplored shoegaze scene. Their music tackles nuanced themes through a genre with untapped potential in the Egyptian music zeitgeist. Their latest track, my blue heaven, is a melancholic ballad that explores isolation, nostalgia, and the feeling of hitting rock bottom. It serves as the first single from FHMY’s debut album, The world you grew up in no longer exists, set for release on February 21, 2025.
The song’s themes, along with its evocative music video directed by Samuel Emeil, create a chilling sense of entrapment and disillusionment with the future. The artists’ work relates fluidly to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal of Good Health and Well-Being. In a conversation with Arts Help, the artists delved into the nuances of my blue heaven, its thematic significance and the growing prominence of shoegaze in the region.
The music video for my blue heaven, directed by Samuel Emeil.
Emeil was given full creative freedom to shape his vision for the video, with the artists’ only goal being to enjoy the process. Drawing inspiration from Pennsylvania-based rock band Title Fight and their music video for Head in the Ceiling Fan, the video captures themes of friendship and a longing for a better time. The video demonstrates the preciousness of these relationships and their role in fostering collective joy and mental health. Scenes from Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver and Andrei Tarkovsky’s Stalker were used to great effect and cultivated a bittersweet atmosphere, creating a noisy tension that implies this joy is not set to last. The work also features shots that pay homage to different album art covers, added as easter eggs for the viewers.
The Egyptian duo were also adamant about displaying Egypt in the form they recognized without showing ancient landmarks and historical symbols. Describing the video as a monologue of unreclaimable emotions and events, they put great effort into capturing an authentic reflection of their experience. The video invites viewers to project their memories onto it, serving as a gateway to their own deep well of nostalgia. By design, the video was made to have a flexible narrative to encourage the viewers to engage in feeling rather than analysis.
The title my blue heaven carries its own layers of meaning. Written in lowercase as a tribute to shoegaze pioneers My Bloody Valentine—who title all their songs this way—it also serves as a reflection of a specific state of mind. It represents a moment of hitting rock bottom, existing in a void of blue and grappling with the choices that led to this point. It is an abstract breakup song focusing on a sequence of events that spiral into a final, dark-faded blue. Deathcrash’s American Metal also played a pivotal role in the refinement of the song, shaping its themes of emotional self-destruction and the overwhelming urge to abandon everything and run.
FHMY, AQL and Emeil all carry their visions of what their 'blue heaven entails. They insist that the video stands as a separate work of art—one that forms around the music to enhance it, not as an extension, but as a distinct whole. Water was a central motif in the direction of the music video; the director used its application as a separator between the two main emotional themes in the work. Representing isolation, water underscores moments of solitude, while scenes of togetherness counterbalance that melancholy, introducing the second key theme—companionship.
The artists’ being drawn to shoegaze as a genre is credited to its innocence, authenticity and ambience, citing American Football and Slowdive as key musical influences. Its limited existence in Egypt was also a factor in wanting to propel the genre to more listeners in the region. The wall of sound in the song was crafted to immerse listeners in its themes, drawing them into their own blue heaven. This marks the first time both musicians have built such a sonic landscape—one that is both overwhelming and accessible. The dense, guitar-laden textures amplify the experience, with two guitars weaving a rhythmic foundation while a third slices through the mix, creating an intense, all-encompassing sonic experience.
The artists credit the song's existence to their many shared realities. Although they grew up in the same neighbourhoods, the two had only met once before recording my blue heaven. Many of the guitar segments were made up on the spot during the recording process, highlighting the organic nature in which the track came to be.
The video explores themes of isolation, depicting it as disconnected from a time when forging a sense of community felt more natural. Drawing inspiration from Arcade Fire’s Ready to Start, the artists reflect on the coming-of-age themes embedded in their work. They highlight a harsh byproduct of late-stage capitalism—the way subcultures and lifestyles are categorized, commodified, and stripped of their authenticity. This results in an artificial social landscape, one that lacks true connection. Socioeconomic pressures further exacerbate this, creating a domino effect driven by financial insecurity.
FHMY, AQL and Emeil all derive different messages from my blue heaven. The song is both hopeful and merciless in its message, offering listeners space to grieve the world they once knew while hammering home the harsh reality—they can never return to it. It is a rock bottom moment in which some may remain and accept their fate and others reach their hands towards the surface and push back against it. The collective chooses not to impose their ‘blue heaven’ on others, understanding that a person’s blue heaven is personal to them and only them. However, they show us a world laden with a tragic catharsis, a cry of relief that dissolves into a state of discontent, a world that we all now live within.