The first version of the song was composed and recorded within a fairly tight timeframe in April 2016. The track was actively played during rehearsals by the first lineup of Mixte in 2020–2021, but it truly gained a second lease on life when the band transitioned into a trio format with Luc behind the drum kit. Fun fact: due to Luc’s limited time availability, he couldn’t master a large number of songs, so Grayscale was played during rehearsals way too often. At one point, this started to frustrate the band members, especially Philipp.
Nevertheless, from an instrumental standpoint, the original version made it to the release practically unchanged—the instrument parts were simply re-recorded with high quality. In June 2022, a video was filmed in the rehearsal basement, and just a month later, the song was officially released. Stylistically, the track is a close relative of Massive: it features a simple structure, a sleek shift in dynamics between the verses and choruses, and a short runtime. However, unlike Massive, Grayscale carries a completely different atmosphere. Instead of desperate anguish, it plays with contrasts: funky motifs give way to industrial rhythms, emphasizing the ideological concept of the song.
