The Mietus Touch beckons listeners into shimmering, psychedelic waters with his new song “Edge of Heaven.” The three minute track feels like the breathless adrenaline of new love; like a pond that ripples with kaleidoscopic reflections; like a moonflower sprawling open after days of hibernation. It’s the third track on Mietus Touch’s hypnotic album, Transcendental Souvenirs.
Lilies flowing through my mind/I feel the touch/Come on in the water’s fine/Yeah that’s the stuff
Believe it or not, The Mietus Touch consists of one superhuman artist: a Chicago-based multi-instrumentalist and producer named Joseph Mietus. This may explain the impressive synergy of the piece. Mietus’ vocals, lyrics, and production work together in seamless harmony to push an image, a feeling, a moment of time to the listener. When he sings about “lilies flowing” through his mind, the synths flow out like petals in a breeze. When he sings about “thinking feeling dreaming healing” the drums match the nervous process of self-improvement. In this sense, the title of the album is doubly appropriate: through his music, Mietus gives the listener a “souvenir” from his life, a butterfly under a glass that we can watch flutter.
Look into your eyes as we’re walking through the park/Wanna see you in the morning, wanna see you in the evening, see you after dark
Mietus plays with rhythm from verse to verse, punctuating the song with a fluid, clever flow. His dreamy lyricism layers into a lush, stacked vocal styling. The effect is — pun-intended — heavenly. I found the chorus melody especially compelling, but be prepared to have it stuck in your head all day, because it’s a real earworm. Seriously. I have had the “thinking feeling dreaming healing” riff in my head all. Day. Long.
Take a trip learn a lesson follow me to the edge of heaven/That beach never looked so good
Lyrically, the song seems to follow a character on the upswing from heartbreak. They have survived the winter and they “came through the cold.” Now the speaker is ready to find themselves again, and open up to a new love. The speaker woos their love into soft rippling waters, beckons them to “the edge of heaven.” The image of heaven’s edge is especially lovely in the context of a new relationship. After all, isn’t that what new love is like? Staring down from an endless height, heart buckling in your chest, caught in a place where time dissolves from “past present now or future.” It’s a beautiful metaphor, wrapped in an upbeat synth that sounds like Tame Impala.
“Edge of Heaven” is a smart, glittering track from an artist on the rise. It’s a souvenir of first-date jitters and a testament to new beginnings.
