JWestern Releases New Single ‘Aspirin’ via Heist or Hit
Leeds alt-pop riser JWestern unveils first single of 2021 ‘Aspirin’, out via Heist or Hit now.
Luscious guitar washes, shuffling drums and a heavy bass groove provide the pastel toned room in which JWestern’s (AKA John Gooding) featherbed vocals bounce around, painting a picture of claustrophobic emotional feedback loops.
That well-known warming vibe that JWestern faultlessly captures in their vision, that welcomed vibe has returned and this new single is a certified hit. The shimmering guitar notes flutter between this contagious passage which adds this distinct experimental attribute to the track. Once again JWestern has crafted this more-ish soundscape that is destined to make the audience move. This swirling momentum emitting from the instrumentation develops this surreal yet addictive atmosphere, JWestern’s euphoric vocals push the ensemble to new levels whilst adding complexity to the charming composition. The bright sparkling melodies overcome the serious lyrics adding an infectious bounce to meaningful creation. The new single infuses this elated vibrant aspect with personal touches.
It picks up where last year’s debut EP ‘Just People’ left off in its jazz-meets-hip-hop colouration, exploring themes of overthinking, inaction and saying too much while not saying enough. This established the 411 of the JWestern biosphere, but this time round John is writing at an even more open and vulnerable level:
“Being so isolated and restricted this last year I found myself trapped in my own head, spending hours reflecting on past experiences and how those experiences have fed into me as a person”, he confides. “Similar to ‘Just People’, I’ve always used my songs as a coping mechanism, but this time it just felt easier to be more honest than before. I’m scared of my feelings, scared of the future, scared of losing the people around me and for long periods I put a shutter over certain parts of my brain just trying to keep those thoughts at bay. Predictably, in the early hours of the morning I’d find myself awake contemplating all these different thoughts. All these songs stem from those moments, half awake, alone, writing everything down on the notes app of my phone.”
Part indie-adjacent R&B crooner whose soundwaves crash onto the shores of jazz and hip-hop, part mineworker cracking gems at the cliff face of pop, JWestern’s delivery is distinctly British; sardonic asides and northern vernacular dripping from his semi-rap flow. However, being also indebted to a new breed of genreless US artists in Gus Dapperton, or Omar Apollo, he combines both sides of the coin to create a woozy transatlantic sound.
JWestern is ready to step into the hazy space occupied by Easy Life, Arlo Parks, Yellow Days or Still Woozy – with the likes of Billboard, Vogue (Paris), The Line of Best Fit, Clash Magazine, DORK, GIGWISE and BBC Radio 1 proclaiming themselves as fans in this mission.
‘Aspirin’ is the new single from JWestern, out now via Heist or Hit.
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