Singer, songwriter, producer and director Wesley Joseph today unveils his new single and BBC Radio 1’s Hottest Record ‘Pluto Baby’, an immersive cut that leans into atmosphere as much as melody. The track marks a further expansion of the world surrounding his forthcoming 13-track debut album Forever Ends Someday (releasing 10th April via Secretly Canadian), deepening the emotional and sonic language of the project Joseph has been carefully constructing across recent singles.
‘Pluto Baby sounds stadium sized; catchy, instinctive hooks intertwine with direct, incisive rap verses, grounding the track with clarity and intent. Distorted guitar lines react and contort, the track’s low-end textures forming a shadowy undercurrent beneath cascading synths that glimmer and dissolve throughout. Piano chords scatter intermittently alongside Wesley’s bars, adding moments of fragility to an otherwise restless sonic landscape. At the centre of it all, Wesley’s vocal cuts cleanly through the haze. The accompanying video directed by Lokmane, and creatively directed by Wesley Joseph, has been shot in the Paris Communist Party Headquarters. The visual places Wesley within the building’s distinctive modernist interior, using the striking location as a powerful backdrop for the new single.
Wesley Joseph – ‘Pluto Baby’ (Official Video)
The Walsall-born, London based artist continues to assert himself as one of the UK’s most ambitious multi-hyphenates, presenting a fully realised debut that distils years of introspection, Previous singles ‘If Time Could Talk’ and ‘Peace Of Mind’ (ft. Danny Brown) offer early entry points into this world, each accompanied by striking, self-directed visuals that underscored Joseph’s cinematic approach to storytelling. Shot across cities including Paris and London, the videos moved fluidly between realism and abstraction, reinforcing the album’s emotional core while expanding its visual language.
“Pluto Baby is set in the blur of night, written from a younger and less sure perspective that’s questioning what’s real. It’s the spiral between chasing highs, euphoria, lust and loneliness. Reaching for meaning in the wrong things and feeling somber underneath it all – a snapshot into a night that feels like it could be the last party on earth. We were recording in Hastings as a thunderstorm broke outside the studio and I wanted the track to carry that same energy. Charged, restless, and alive. A. K. Paul picked up his guitar and played a solo that became the spine of the song. Me, Harvey Dweller and Tev’n fleshed it out and later Nicolas Jaar heard it and steered it towards a four to the floor pulse. We followed that current until it became what it is now, a dark but euphoric storm you can move to” – Wesley Joseph
Forever Ends Someday marks Joseph’s most vulnerable and cinematic work to date. The album maps a personal timeline, drawing from childhood memories, teenage turbulence and the present moment to create scenes that shift between the real and the surreal. Throughout the record, Joseph explores the pull of nostalgia, the weight of emotional change, and the fleeting beauty of the passing of time. The music occupies a space between honesty and escapism, fusing stark realism with dreamlike, expressive production.
Across the album, Joseph draws from an array of influences that have shaped his artistic DNA: soul and R&B that soundtracked his upbringing, the omnipresence of rap, and the alternative electronic and psychedelic records discovered during hours spent online as a teenager. Rather than fitting within one genre, the record merges these touchpoints into a cohesive, instinctive sound – raw, cinematic and resolutely forward-thinking. His voice moves fluidly between understated soul, poetic rap and textured melodic delivery, unified by an emotional through-line that runs across all 13 songs.
Forever Ends Someday was crafted between London, Walsall, Los Angeles and a remote mountainside studio in Switzerland, closely created with an accomplished team including Nicolas Jaar (The Weeknd, Mustafa, FKA Twigs), Harvey Dweller, Tev’n, A.K. Paul, Al Shux, Ryan Raines and Romil Hemnani (Brockhampton). The process was deeply intuitive, favouring in-the-room experimentation and organic arrangement over rigid structure, which results in a record that breathes with spontaneity while maintaining a refined, deliberate sense of craft. The album features collaborations with childhood friend Jorja Smith, and the aforementioned Danny Brown.
Since his emergence with 2021’s ULTRAMARINE, Joseph has built a reputation as one of the UK’s most forward-thinking new artists. The debut project earned critical acclaim across the music and fashion worlds — from The FADER, GQ, i-D, Pigeons & Planes, Vogue. 2023’s follow-up GLOW only cemented his reputation, hailed as a bold, world-building project that blurred the boundaries between alternative R&B, rap, and soul. Joseph has collaborated with the likes of A. K. Paul, Dave Okumu, Leon Vynehall, Joy Orbison, childhood friend Jorja Smith and Loyle Carner (he appeared on the Mercury Prize shortlisted “hugo” and supported on a sold-out tour through the UK). Beyond this, he has since taken his captivating live show global, having embarked on a headline North American tour and delivered a triumphant sold-out London headline show at KOKO.
Wesley Joseph
Forever Ends Someday
TRACKLIST
- Distant Man
- White Tee
- If Time Could Talk
- Pluto Baby
- Quicksand
- Peace of Mind (feat. Danny Brown)
- Blinded
- July (feat. Jorja Smith)
- Seasick
- Manuka
- Mind Games
- Shadow Puppet
- 100 Miles
CONNECT WITH WESLEY JOSEPH
