Jeshua is the solo dream pop project of Joshua Grey. Writing from Glasgow, this Scottish artist writes simple and straightforward songs, with light reverb on his electric guitar layers, slap back on others or slide guitar, while playing along a simple drum loop and hand claps. His vocal style is somewhat reminiscent of Bob Dylan’s electric albums of the 60s.
He released his fourth single, Esther, and it’s so solid. Esther is borderline bedroom pop, stripped down so that the song itself carries the listener through, and it’s also personal. The song is about his late grandmother who passed when he was a teenager.
Joshua talks about how he approached the lyrics:
“’Esther’ was written about my Gran passing when I was 15 and it’s a tribute to her, I tried to use her perspective of being religious, and drew inspiration from the music she liked with certain phrases. I didn’t want it to just be a song for mourning purposes so I used mantras to make it more positive and hopeful.”
Jeshua will be releasing an album called Unreliable Narrator on June 4th. Thus far we’ve heard Feel-So-Alive, Waste Away, IDK, and now Esther. The first three singles came with alternate mixes, but Esther has the best production. His melody and vocal delivery is approached well, and there’s additional sounds, including a light synth, scattered harmonies, and layers of guitars that fill out the sound.
As I listen to Jeshua, I can tell that this is just the beginning. With the right producer, he’ll release songs that we’ll be obsessed with. Esther certainly points to this.
Jeshua links:
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