Unguarded, wholly realised and entirely his own – Wesley Joseph’s long-awaited debut album sees the singer, songwriter, producer and director at his most confidently vulnerable, expressing the many layers of his creative life journey. “I looked in the mirror more than I ever have with this record,” he says. “It unexpectedly became a coming of age album. I was reaching from different periods in my life and into the present - some songs were cinematic snapshots, others sobering realities or romanticised memories. Dreaming has always been a raincoat from reality and making the record allowed things to be processed in the real world”
The result is Forever Ends Someday: 13 tracks of self-examination cut with expansive escapism. A balance between reality and imagination – a magical realism rooted in music – opener “Distant Man” finds Joseph reflecting on the past and confronting his present, while “If Time Could Talk” explores the melancholic but electric feeling of lost connection and desire. On the Danny Brown feature “Peace of Mind”, meanwhile, Joseph blasts through his anxieties and delivers a bass-rattling anthem with confidence and reassurance, “July” finds Joseph collaborate with Jorja Smith as the pair perform a rejoiceful callback, recorded in their hometown of Walsall, reminiscing on how far they’ve come, as well as all they have lost.
Three years in the making, Joseph took time away from the spotlight to find his story, choosing to pursue the honesty of his art rather than capitalising on career momentum - with highlights including a sold-out headline date at London’s KOKO and a sold-out North American tour. “I just treated the record like a vessel, throwing things into it from my life all the time,” he says. “I was capturing moments from my childhood, teenage years and at times speaking to a Wesley that doesn’t exist yet.”
Resolutely genreless, it is Joseph’s singular voice and vision that unifies these tracks, cracking from raw rap self-expression to singing with soulful, understated, conviction. “This record is a product of my musical DNA,” he says. “It feels original because it’s not trying to fit in one space - it’s all my influences at once. I grew up with soul music and r&b being played around the house, I’ve never not had rap music around me, and as I got older I spent a lot of time in my headphones getting lost on the internet - which led to a love of everything from electronic music to psychedelic records.” “Lyrically these songs are all scenes, colours, feelings and moments in my life that I’ve caught at their most poignant and dramatised into song.” he continues. “Music has always been an honest place for me. It’s an escape from the world but when it came to writing this, I went inwards.”
Since exploding onto the music scene with the synth-driven bounce of his breakthrough single “Ghostin’”, Joseph has built a cult audience immersed in his sophisticated, alternative sound. His debut EP ULTRAMARINE gathered over 100 million streams for its genre-agnostic trip though alternative R&B, soul, rap, dancefloor rhythms and considered lyricism, while follow-up GLOW saw Joseph deliver eight tracks of ambitious musicality that embraced everything from earworming melody to hard-hitting rap verses. Collaborating with the likes of A.K. Paul, Dave Okumu, Leon Vynehall, Joy Orbison, childhood friend Jorja Smith and Loyle Carner, who Joseph also supported on a sold-out tour through the UK, the multi-hyphenate has garnered critical acclaim and reputation for forward-thinking creativity
Raised in the West-Midlands town of Walsall, Joseph grew up with music as a constant presence. In his teens he began teaching himself how to produce and was a core member of the DIY Soundcloud hip-hop collective OG Horse alongside Jorja Smith. Yet, as he reached adulthood, he found life in the town increasingly challenging. “I was always in between things and eventually became quite isolated, feeling a bit alien. Walsall is a small town and it’s a raw place, having dreams and a sense of distraction from reality really got me through my adolescence,” he says. “At 18, I felt I had to get out, since there’s only so much time you can spend in your room making beats.”
Moving to London to study filmmaking, Joseph began developing his instinctive visual sensibility. He has consequently directed all of his music videos to date, being hands on from initial storyboarding to editing and colour grading - creating a cinematic, luscious perspective reflected in the award-winning visuals for singles like “Thrilla” and “Monsoon”
“I didn’t always have the resources I needed so I had to learn things for myself. I was always punching above my weight, and always self-sufficient - because I simply care too much about what I make” he says. “Beneath the polished nature of what I’m releasing is someone who is trying to make the best work I can while I’m here.”
It’s a humble mindset best reflected in the infectious music of Forever Ends Someday. With it’s title referring to the fleeting beauty of the present moment – “the idea that when you’re young things will last forever but then you grow up to realise youth is borrowed,” Joseph explains – the album’s tracks depict an honest reflection of human experience through both the light and dark.
On “Peace of Mind” for instance, Joseph spits venomously over a rumbling sub bass and earworming hook, channeling a younger version of himself who was in a darker place in his life and contrasting that perspective with the confidence of now: “Recording the tears I never shed,” he raps. “Seasick” alternatively sees Joseph tap into a psychedelic-punk, indie-soul sensibility, recounting the turbulence of a relationship and how going through the storm is still worth it if you love someone. “Pluto Baby” plays through woozy synths and reverberating guitars, mixing driving instrumentals with sobering lyrics and “July” strikes a soulful, expansive note as old friends Jorja Smith and Joseph rejoice and reflect on the journey they have made.
Recorded between London, Walsall, Los Angeles and “halfway up a mountain in Switzerland,” Joseph enlisted a core team of collaborators and co-producers to execute his vision over the three years of writing.
He worked closely with composer Nicolas Jaar (The Weeknd, FKA Twigs), who lent his soundscaping sensibility to several tracks, producer Harvey Dweller (Loyle Carner, Joy Crookes), Mercury Prize-nominated Tev’n (Rina Sawayama, SBTRKT), A. K. Paul (Nao, Fabiana Palladino), Al Shux (JAY Z, Kendrick Lamar, SZA), Ryan Raines (Paul McCartney, Dominic Fike) and producer Romil Hemnani (Brockhampton), “It was all made in the room together,” Joseph says. “Everything was orchestrated intuitively and you can hear that in the record.”
Alongside the record release and a forthcoming tour, Joseph is also planning a new visual universe for the album’s videos, spanning shoots in Walsall, Paris and beyond to convey the depth of his creative universe. “I just wanted to push boundaries completely and make a classic record that extends its magic into a visual world too,” Joseph says. “I want it to be a timeless thing that one day will have a future heritage. Something people always come back to, get lost in and at the same time find something real in.” From Walsall to the world, Forever Ends Someday shows that Joseph’s legacy has only just begun.
