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Some voices sweep away everything in their path, sending shivers up the spine, chilling the blood and inflaming the senses.
Josh Wheatley may only be 21, but his angelic pop indie folk voice is one such phenomenon.
Having already caught the attention of Janice Long at Radio 2 and a host of producers lining up to work with Josh, this dark and brooding songwriter from Nottingham is writing about matters of the heart and soul with a knowing empathy rarely found in someone so young.
His influences are cited as being locked firmly around artists like Death Cab For Cutie, Ryan Adams and David Gray, along with some newer bands such as Tall Ships and Dog is Dead.
After a spat at university heading towards the path of a career in law Wheatley decided to head towards the stars instead and follow his heart where the music runs deep within. This first offering entitled ‘Runaway’ is a song which encapsulates a person’s deepest fears, and follows the battle they go through to escape. Be it love, depression, anger and whatever else can keep someone trapped inside.
The track successfully completes the feat of marrying poignant young impressionable innocence to an established production of popping slow burning nostalgic electronic sounds that have an infectiousness sense in their sincerity.
Retro in one moment yet contemporary in another, spine chilling and beautiful, the song is like a quiet whisper in your ear or a thought in the back of your head that grows and grows until it embraces and envelopes you with a long sought after freedom. Love and anger arise throughout the song, picturing loss and hopes for solace whilst choral distant harmonies shimmer and drum machine beats snap.
Production comes from Ed Turner (Adam French, Dan Hyde) delivering an uplifting and anthemic indie pop sound that will lay down the gauntlet of someone here about to truly break through.
‘Runaway’ is out to buy on March 6th.
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