Watching the video for Daniel Noah Miller’s newest single, “Opening Me,” feels invasive in the most captivating way. Performing in front of an audience, it's obvious he’s looking to be heard - but the music itself suggests a different intention. Intricately mastered by Miller, he seems almost disconnected from the listeners just in front of him. I’d imagine watching this performance would mirror the experience of watching someone through a one-way window - Miller operates as if he’s in his own sanctuary, closed off from others yet looking for connection. This dynamic only pulls you in closer - almost as if you want to see how close you can get before he’ll notice, before he’ll break routine to acknowledge your presence. As he wails and tunes and awes, you get the impression you’re on different planes, and Miller is doing his best to elevate you to his own. 

“‘Opening Me’ documents the final heartbroken, spiralling days of a romantic relationship,” Miller explains in a press release. “It was something I wrote as I was experiencing this pain in real time, which is rare for me. I often find it can take me several months or even years to work through my experiences in a way that feels worth sharing. I have long been reluctant to document sentiments like anger or jealousy that are fleeting, and that I might later regret or not align with. But, this song poured out of me while I was sleeping on an air mattress at the studio where we were recording. I might have missed it for being so numb with sadness, but my producer Jack Hallenbeck overheard me strumming through the idea and pushed me to finish it. It’s one of my favorite songs that came out of this process.”

Miller continues to share the story behind the song, one that will have continued meaning as he moves toward his next release: “I want to say that I don’t think the content of this song dwells in resentment, even though it is imbued with a smoldering spirit. It meditates on the way that we often rewrite our past in order to make it align with our current feelings, in order to rationalize our existence. I wanted so badly to reject that, and this song plays as a plea for the other person involved to do so as well. To respect the time we shared in its totality. In many ways, that sentiment has led to a really beautiful friendship, so this song is very meaningful to my present reality. And as I have begun to perform this music I’ve found that ‘Opening Me’ in particular serves as a mirror for the current predicament we collectively find ourselves in. One in which common ground and empathy are hard to come by, where we are so often quick to follow our worst instincts.”

The recorded version of “Opening Me” is much more occupied yet equally evocative. With more pace and a busier setting, the water you’re wading in is of similar depths to the live video performance. To experience “Opening Me” in these different ways speaks to the variability Miller is capable of, a trait sure to be on display on his upcoming album, Disintegration, out February 16 of next year. With the announcement, the Nicaraguan-American artist has bookmarked his album as an early must-listen after the new year. 

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