The Fake Whales Make “Shine” Dazzle Again

In their debut release, The Fake Whales boldly reintroduced “Shine,” a sparkling 1984 track sung initially by ABBA’s Frida, with a renewed sense of cinematic wonder, blending pop-rock nostalgia with forward-thinking innovation. Anchored by seasoned producer and songwriter Kevin Edward Jarvis, the UK-based band takes a track close to his heart and breathes new life into it, not by imitation but through evolution and a sharp creative lens.

Their version of “Shine” feels expansive and vivid, weaving dreamy synth textures with bold, reverberant guitars reminiscent of Electric Light Orchestra and Supertramp. It’s an anthem for turning points, filled with an uplifting energy that taps into universal themes of breakthrough, triumph, and self-belief.

The instrumentation is lush without being overpowering, allowing the vocals and harmonies to glide through with emotional resonance. Jarvis, who has long admired the spirit of the original, adds layers of depth through modern production while still honoring the song’s emotional core. The result is a version that feels not only more true to Jarvis’ original vision but also more timeless, capable of reaching audiences who may have never heard the song before.

Yet what makes The Fake Whales especially intriguing is how they embrace AI, not as a gimmick, but as a genuine creative partner. The accompanying music video, created entirely with AI, bursts with surreal imagery: neon-lit dreamscapes, vast cosmic backdrops, and fantastical cityscapes. It feels like stepping into a vintage future, a bold aesthetic statement that perfectly complements the song’s message of vision and transformation. By integrating cutting-edge visuals with retro-inspired audio, they bridge the past and future in a way that feels both seamless and profound.

While technology fuels their process, the human heart remains at the forefront. The Fake Whales are not trying to replace emotion with code; they’re using it to enhance storytelling, amplify inspiration, and prove that music’s evolution is a shared journey between artist, listener, and machine. With “Shine,” they’ve created a debut that’s nostalgic and visionary, reverent and rebellious. The result? Pure magic and a dazzling signal of what’s to come.

What drew you back to "Shine" and made you want to reimagine it now, decades later?

When we started to work with our producer, we listened to material that he had written, and Shine really surprised us because the original demo was so utterly different from the song that was released by Frida (Abba), and we heard a much rockier track. It immediately resonated with the whole band, so we decided to record it there and then.

How do you see AI enhancing, not replacing, the creative process in music?

Like many artists, our first reaction was a bit wary; AI felt like a threat to the creative process. And to be fair, we've heard some AI-generated music that's shockingly good. But the more we explored it, the more we saw the parallels with past innovations, like when synths, samplers, and sequencers first showed up. People were skeptical then, too.

In the end, those tools didn't replace artists; they empowered them. And we think it'll be the same with AI. It can be a powerful collaborator, especially visually, as we've seen in our videos. But the soul of music still comes from human experience, that messy, emotional, unpredictable side of us that AI can't replicate. At some point, AI-generated music may become instantly recognizable, perhaps even a bit repetitive and stale. At least… we hope so!

The video feels otherworldly. What was the creative direction behind its AI-generated visuals?

The video is really where AI took the reins. We gave ChatGPT the song title and a few key lyrics, and it came back with multiple storyboard concepts and visual ideas. From there, we picked our favorite scenes and asked them to write specific prompts for each one. Those prompts were then fed into image-generating AI to create the visuals.

The psychedelic elements? That was all AI, and we had no idea how they would turn out until we saw them. Some of the imagery completely blew us away; the 'cloudscape' scene, for example, came out perfectly on the first try. Of course, not everything worked; many visuals ended up on the virtual cutting room floor.

AI can be frustrating when it misfires repeatedly, but when it hits, it creates moments that feel almost impossible to capture in real life and things we wouldn't have thought of ourselves. That unpredictability is part of what makes it so exciting to work with.

How do you strike a balance between vintage inspiration and future-forward production?

Great question! We enjoy leaning back to vintage influences because there's a soul and rawness in older recordings that resonates with us. We love the warmth of analog gear, the grooves of 70s funk, and we try to pair that with modern production techniques and, of course, AI, which we are only just learning about, so our feet are only dipped slightly into the water at the moment. It's about creating music that feels rooted but not stuck, something familiar yet unexpected.

With "Shine" marking your debut, what can fans expect next from The Fake Whales?

We're keeping the momentum going, recording new music, and creating more visual stories. Currently, we have three upcoming tracks scheduled. One is another reimagined cover of a funky classic, paired with an AI-generated video that we had more creative control over this time. The video takes viewers on a surreal journey from the U.S. to Egypt to Transylvania, offering a visually stunning experience.

We're also releasing a track called Romeo and Juliet, our take on the iconic Shakespeare love story that started it all. Expect a mix of nostalgia and modern storytelling in true Fake Whales style.