British artist and director Wesley Joseph returns with his first drop of the year. COLD SUMMER is a brand new single, co-produced with Leon Vynehall and shared alongside news he has signed worldwide to distinguished independent label, Secretly Canadian.
The song is also accompanied by a self-directed music video from the now award-winning filmmaker, filmed on-location in Kazakhstan.
Praise for Wesley Joseph:
“Wesley Joseph’s genre-blending music has undeniable soul and he is an essential rising artist”
Pigeons & Planes
“All-round multi-hyphenate building a reputation for iridescent, effortlessly cool music”
The Fader
“Sonically somewhere between Andre 3000 and Jai Paul… Wesley Joseph makes the kind of airy, electro-soul that feels featherlight”
GQ
Discussing COLD SUMMER, Wesley offered the following.
“Whenever me and Leon Vynehall are at his studio ‘The Ooz’, the vibe is special and the world spins at a different pace. We talked about how I wanted to create the theme music for a supervillain’s return, something that felt uneasy, tense, and eerie, yet completely encapsulating – that would feel like the perfect beginning to the next chapter. COLD SUMMER started to take shape at 1am after a day of working, and as soon as we got the atmospherics and drums down we couldn’t stop playing it. We wanted to make something simple that allowed my vocal to lead and bend the vibe in each section. Creating it was a freeing process I think you can hear reflected in the song.
The supervillain concept expanded into the COLD SUMMER universe of the film, and I wanted to bring the alter-ego Fredrick a step forward in our world – making a video that felt cinematic, textured, eccentric, vivid and humourous at the same time. As the idea got bigger, more characters were drawn in, and when all the dots were connected it was a pretty unrealistic concept to shoot in the UK. We ended up shooting in Kazakhstan and after a 10 hour flight and 2 days with next to no sleep, filming in deserts, old hotels and golf clubs in the mountains, we came back with the video. Luckily we had a great team out there who facilitated the idea and made it possible. The film feels out of this world and unfamiliar to me, so much happened so quickly – it’s still a beautiful lucid blur.”
COLD SUMMER follows a breakthrough year for the film school graduate that saw him release his debut project ULTRAMARINE to critical acclaim, earning accolades across the music and fashion worlds including the likes of AnOther Man, The Face, The Fader, The Guardian, GQ, i-D, NME, Pigeons & Planes, Vogue and more. Whilst also being named a Next Wave artist by Jack Saunders at Radio 1, a Tip For 2022 by Jamz Supernova at BBC Radio 1Xtra and earning the highly influential Discovered On slot from Apple Music 1 host Ebro. Further praise from Apple Music came with the cover of their Up Next playlist, and Spotify who featured him as the face of Radar: First Listen.
Wesley is also set to perform his debut live sets this year, and a dream festival appearance at Primavera 2022 is confirmed.
He is currently working on the following up to ULTRAMARINE with collaborators including A.K. Paul, Dave Okumu, Leon Vynehall and Lexxx.
