American singer/songwriter Greyson Chance is supposed to be following up his studio album portraits (which I reviewed here) sometime this year, and I say supposed to be because it sure has been a long tease. Following the release of portraits in 2019, the singer first released a new song titled "Boots" later that same year, and promotion of the new album has been a slow burn ever since, with five more songs released since - "Dancing Next to Me," "Honeysuckle," "Athlete," "Bad to Myself," and now "Holy Feeling." (It is still unclear how many of these songs will remain standalone releases and how many will end up on the album. Chance is notorious for releasing singles that end up homeless, so it wouldn't surprise me if not all of them make the cut.) "Holy Feeling" begins with ambient nature sounds such as animal calls and moves into acoustic guitar underneath Chance's signature smoky low register. "Your body is here, but your eyes are wandering off," he begins, "in the cracks of your ceiling; I'm wondering where you are while I'm getting lost in the soft light under your skin. I'm waiting for you to give up and let me in." I do think that these lyrics (as well as some that follow) potentially have a sexual meaning as well as more abstract meaning, as I do think that the speaker (like Chance himself) is reflecting on his lover being present during a sexual act in body but not in spirit. (The chorus going on to assert that "it brings you to your knees, so give into me, holy feeling..." does nothing to curb this suspicion for me.)
I think that the probable sexual innuendo is intended to be secondary, however, as Greyson had this to say about the song's meaning: "'Holy Feeling' is about being present and focusing on the beauty of what's in front of you, instead of what lies unknowingly in the future." While I am not religious in this sense myself, I am sure that there are some Christians who would be upset by some of the lyrics, deeming them as sacrilegious: "...so what do you need?" Greyson demands to know in the aforementioned chorus, "Holy feeling, the type your God can't give you..." It seems to me as if Chance is requesting that his lover be present with him in the moment, not in divine thought worrying about things like fate and where the future is headed, because he can bring him greater peace and relief than God ever could. The song has a soft piano rock quality to it that is typical of Greyson Chance's music, reminiscent of artists like Edwin McCain, The Fray, Gavin DeGraw, and so forth, and it's sonically the type of song that you would expect to hear near the end of a feel-good high school movie in which a sports team enjoys an epic victory in the rain. It's a nice song, although "Honeysuckle" remains my favorite of the new bunch so far. Greyson also released an acoustic unplugged version of the song, which is much more stripped back and more raw (both in production and in Greyson's vocals) than the original version.
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