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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.
