JOSHUA – Artificial Flavour (2024)
Authenticity, originality, innovation and raw passion, singer-songwriter JOSHUA embodies all of these concepts. With a natural penchant for soul-stirring music, he not only burns the embers of music in his soul but stokes flames in everyone else. This is not my introduction to the Australian musician after discovering him with the 2023 track ‘Love Me’, but listening to each of his tracks is like discovering JOSHUA for the first time – jaw-dropping in its rapt rush of sound. Pushing the borders of pop music, his style is anything but pedestrian tackling the lines of genre conventionalism.
I might compare JOSHUA to the likes of Charlie Puth and Troye Sivan, but the eclecticism of his nature steps around these commercial artists. Fluttering a hint of Tame Impala, a heavier indie influence slithers through JOSHUA’s discography; then again, his eclecticism and versatility see him taste various flavours of pop. From the heavier, pop-rock tinge of ‘Punchline’ to the smoother ‘Love Me’, he oscillates from dark to light moving with the tide. The latest addition to his discography is the single ‘Artificial Flavour’.
Following his well-received song ‘Ghost’, ‘Artificial Flavour’ is another cog in his wheel of diversity. Self-recorded and produced, ‘Artificial Flavour’ intertwines slips of electropop with shimmering synths wrapped in an enigmatic whirlpool of sound. While you might be immersed in a rush of music, there is an intricate simplicity and sparseness between each element. Like wisps of smoke, the arrangement twinkles in a bright array; however, JOSHUA’s haunting vocals, almost a whisper, add creepy darkness.
Delicately exploring human fragility, ‘Artificial Flavour’ offers an off-kilter sense of vulnerability but the lyricism makes it more profound. The eerie vocals hint at poignant tragedy but the lyrics pointedly appeal to originality, authenticity and empowerment. JOSHUA explains:
“’Artificial Flavour’ is a broody, sultry dark pop track… that I wrote in response to a challenge to my artistic integrity… it’s also coming out at a very integral point of my personal life. After a long journey, I am finally embracing my bisexuality and being even more unapologetic about who I am and what I have to offer to the world.”
Find out more about JOSHUA on his official website, Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram and Spotify.
This artist was discovered via Musosoup #sustainablecurator
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