Empara Mi’s new single “Closer to Heaven” feels like a big emotional release – and it totally rocks. It’s the latest release from her upcoming album Monsters & Masochists, and it takes everything I loved about early 2000s bands like Paramore and Evanescence and spins it into something new and personal.
From the very first note, the track feels heavy in the best way. There’s fuzzy guitar, big drums, and Empara Mi’s voice just cuts through it all with real emotion. The verses feel slow and sad, like trying to hold back tears, but then the chorus hits – and it hits hard. It’s the kind of moment you want to scream along to in your car, maybe even while crying (we might have all been there).
The production throughout the entire song is also tight. There’s a lot going on – layers of sound building up, breaking down, and coming back even stronger – it feels polished and structured for purpose. It would be an understatement to say that the song is raw, loud, and really honest, as that is what makes it so good.
Lyrically, though, Empara Mi’s new song talks about love, loss, and that weird feeling of still trying to hold on to someone who’s already gone, which honestly feels spot on. This is a sad song, but it also it is also a kind of freeing. Like maybe it is used as an outlet for Empara Mi to convince herself that letting go doesn’t have to be all bad. There’s also something cool about how Empara Mi clearly talks to her younger self, which you can hear through the representation of teenage angst in the lyrics. Instead of hiding from those feelings, Empara Mi’s is meeting them head-on and turning them into something loud and beautiful – which is evident throughout this song.
“Closer to Heaven” might be the boldest thing Empara Mi has released yet. It is emotional, loud, nostalgic, and real. If you’ve ever loved emo-pop, shouted a chorus into the night, or just needed a song to fall apart to – this one’s for you.
