Rascal Miles is an artist on the rise and you should know his name by now. Even Phoebe Bridgers knows Rascal Miles!
Rascal has just released a new song called “Asylum.” The song has dreamy instrumentation the builds over the course of the song. The best part of the song is the lyrical content that tells a story of wanting to hide and isolate. It’s very descriptive, painting a world for listener to join if they close their eyes and imagine.
Rascal impressively played all instruments for the track, including guitars, bass, drums, mandolin, and trombone! Super impressive! Join Rascal Miles’ safe space and listen to Asylum now:
“I wrote this song when I was in between places, and all I wanted was an apartment to myself to be able to write songs in without worrying about the people in the next room. It was at a time where I was feeling suffocated by the life I was living, and by the the world around me too. Even going to the grocery store was (and still is) overwhelming. The lyrics came from this festering energy I had that stemmed from being misgendered in public and at my job at the time, which made me crave my own safe space and forced me to imagine a world where that daily struggle didn’t exist…where I wasn’t constantly having to correct my pronouns and explain my non-binary/trans identity to those who didn’t get it. The third verse is about waking up in this future as I’ve imagined it where the walls of the gender cages don’t exist anymore. “Sometimes I dream that my eyes froze shut
For a hundred years or so until I got woken up
And when I walk outside
No walls hide the sky
I can see for miles and miles in any direction
“Take a breath of fresh air
And I feel no older
And I look to you and say “it’s finally over”
And if you’ve forgotten
How to imagine
You could come over
And be in the future with me”
And at the time I think this other person I’m speaking to in the song was an imaginary friend, but looking back on the lyrics now, I think I was speaking to myself, to the “me” I had to keep hidden for so much of my life. It’s really quite empowering when you dive into it 😊 Oh! And the choir at the end is made of some of my actual friends, many of whom are queer/nb/trans. It felt fitting to me to include others’ voices for this one, because the
“la da da da” part is like being able to sing out loud and celebrate yourself without anyone stifling your fire.” – RASCAL MILES
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Review by Ryan Cassata