B-Side Guys

Some songs work as relationship ultimatums. Fewer succeed at making those ultimatums sound like promises instead of threats. On “Heaven,” former Stereo Jane frontwoman Syd Taylor transforms domestic uncertainty into dream pop gold, all from the confines of her Los Angeles apartment studio.

The track’s production — handled entirely by Taylor — creates a careful balance between bedroom intimacy and main-stage ambition. That promised chorus drop at 0:50 delivers, with Taylor’s celestial metaphors (“I’m like a star up in the sky”) backed by arrangements that make them feel less like similes and more like statements of fact.

What’s particularly striking is how the song’s confident declarations mirror Taylor’s own artistic evolution. After seventeen years of performing and a label deal with Stereo Jane, she’s chosen this moment to step out solo, bringing both her Detroit roots and her Beatles-to-Stevie influences into sharp focus. Lines like “you’d be lucky to share the air I breathe” could come across as mere bravado, but Taylor’s production choices — that blend of analog warmth and digital precision — give them genuine gravitational pull.

The track’s narrative gained an extra layer of validation when its subject actually took the hint (Taylor moves in next week). But the real victory here isn’t about convincing someone else — it’s about Taylor convincing herself. Each repetition of “I’m the girl of your dreams” feels less like persuasion and more like simple fact-checking, delivered with the assurance of someone who’s done the math and knows the results add up.

For a third single from an upcoming album, “Heaven” suggests Taylor hasn’t just found her voice — she’s found her throne room, and she’s decorating it exactly as she pleases.