A Liminal Synth-Pop Journey into a Cosmic Sanctuary
“Into the Haze” is Hidden Passion’s dream-state threshold—a drifting, luminous meditation on transition, renewal, and the strange comfort found in uncertainty. Where other tracks burst with rhythm or emotional urgency, this one softens the edges of reality, guiding the listener into a world suspended between fear and serenity. Toby Berka treats the haze not as obscurity, but as sanctuary: a place where burdens dissolve, identity expands, and the self becomes weightless.
Lyrics
As we departed
Into the dark
I felt all amiss and disheartened
So dim was my spark
Dread was displaced
As the haze softly wrapped all in shrouds
We fled through its tender embrace
Swaying gently as in clouds
We’re made of star dust
Out of the darkest
Depths of our sphere
We stand gathered here
I feel so heartened
As we have started
Into the haze
Amid golden rays
Onward we journey
Into the haze
We loose all our cumbersome worries
Bewitched by this maze
Clad all in smoke
We’re reduced to a shadow therein
So let us invoke
All the passions we’d hidden deep within
We’re made of star dust
Out of the darkest
Depth of our sphere
We stand gathered here
I feel so heartened
As we have started
Into the haze
Amid golden rays
Sadness has given
Way to a smile
My spirit has mended and risen
So high in the sky
Made from the stars
I am one with the land and the sea
My scars are forgotten and banished
My spirit is now free
A Soft Descent Into Light—Transformative, Weightless, and Quietly Cosmic
With “Into the Haze,” Toby Berka offers one of Hidden Passion’s most atmospheric and introspective journeys. This track exists in a state of gentle suspension: a liminal passage where darkness slowly gives way to radiance, and where emotional heaviness dissolves into something soft, golden, and strangely hopeful. It’s a song about transition not as struggle, but as surrender—letting the haze carry you forward until you emerge reshaped.
The opening verse immediately establishes the emotional stakes:
“I felt all amiss and disheartened / So dim was my spark”
There is no melodrama here—just a quiet admission of weariness. The following lines shift into imagery that is both tender and enveloping. The haze doesn’t obscure; it comforts. Berka frames it as a protective veil, a cloudlike embrace that cushions the journey out of darkness. This duality—fear giving way to calm—anchors the entire song.
The chorus introduces one of the track’s defining motifs:
“We’re made of star dust / Out of the darkest depths of our sphere”
It’s at once cosmic and intimate, reminding the listener that transformation is baked into our very nature. The haze becomes a gateway to rediscovering that origin, a gentle reminder of our place in something vast. The repeated refrains of “golden rays” add warmth, suggesting that illumination comes slowly, shimmer by shimmer.
In the second verse, the haze becomes a psychological maze, but not an oppressive one. To be “reduced to a shadow” is portrayed almost as liberation—a shedding of weight, identity, and expectation. Berka invites the listener to “invoke the passions hidden deep within,” turning this drifting state into an opportunity for self-revelation. It’s an elegant metaphor for introspection: in dimness, the inner light becomes visible.
The final verse brings emotional resolution. The sadness from the opening has evaporated, replaced by ascent and clarity:
“My spirit has mended and risen / So high in the sky”
What might have been a melancholy ending becomes instead a quiet triumph. The speaker emerges not with blazing confidence but with serenity, grounded in the world yet connected to the stars. The phrase “My spirit is now free” feels earned—not as a dramatic climax but as a gentle exhalation.
Musically, “Into the Haze” is painted in palette of soft synth pads, warm pulses, and airy textures. A slow, steady tempo gives the impression of drifting through illuminated fog. Subtle harmonic shifts mimic the slow swaying of the mist, while vocals delivered with warmth and closeness reinforce the sense of intimate transformation.
Within the broader context of Hidden Passion, this track provides a moment of contemplative breathing space. It complements the album’s more rhythmic or fiery songs by exploring a quieter form of passion—one rooted in release, vulnerability, and rediscovery. Where other tracks move outward, “Into the Haze” turns inward, offering a journey not toward somewhere, but through something.
It’s a reminder that clarity often begins in obscurity, that we can be remade not by fire, but by softness. “Into the Haze” captures the fleeting beauty of that transition with atmospheric grace, transforming uncertainty into a luminous, cosmic embrace.
Toby Berka 