The Joshua Hotel and the ‘Rapture Party’ You Don’t Want to Miss.
By Amy Walter
Much like most things I come to love these days, I discovered The Joshua Hotel’s single, “Easy Feeling,” on an all-too-common scrolling session on TikTok. Now, the song sits deservedly on my ‘Indie Mix,’ sandwiched between Mazzy Star and Blood Orange—not the worst company to have on your debut single.
The marketing would work on any nostalgia-hungry or indie-loving viewer, with the song being equipped with all the hazy visuals, ‘90s references, and dreamy vocals anyone could ask for. Think the long-lost triplet to the Cocteau Twins, but made in Scotland with a unique, modern twist.
With their debut album releasing on September 26th, I sat down with lead singer and founder of The Joshua Hotel, Joshua McKenzie, to discuss all things music, nostalgia, and inspirations.
The Start
Their sound derives from 80s music, where McKenzie describes 80s synth-pop as the place "dance music started- I've always liked music that makes you move.” Josh begins: “I feel like the live performances have always been a huge part of why I wanted to be a musician, and I think if people are dancing, it makes me happy.”
“Dance music stemmed or started to really pick up in a big way from that period of time. I think a lot of electronic producers always reference the pioneers from that time; even if it's in a roundabout way, it always kind of harks back to those drum machine sounds, those beats, they were the first ones to do it. They were the first ones to really make pop music and pop on the dance floor.”
Yet their start is much like any other modern musician or current creative, being that they came to fruition during lockdown—a time which allowed many to step back and realize what they wanted to prioritize: their art.
“A lot of artistic people, creatives in any way, have quite hectic lives,” Josh argues. “I think most people, even successful people, are doing lots of different things all the time to piece together a career. It can be hard to have time to ever take a step back and re-engage with what you really, really like doing and why you got into it in the first place.”
Inspiration vs. Nostalgia: A Blurred Line
Much like many other creatives, the dreamy sound behind The Joshua Hotel is laced with a sense of nostalgia throughout—both through ‘Rapture Party’ being a reflection upon Josh’s young adulthood and due to bygone inspirations.
Josh spoke on why this yearning remains: “I think people feel a sense of comfort for bygone eras, even if they weren't alive at that time; it just gives people a sense of comfort and familiarity as well, even again, if they weren't even born at the time.”
We see this desire materialize by the general public through fashion, film, and (especially) music taste—a key example being the Oasis tour. An exciting prospect when we had this interview back in April that did, in fact, come to fruition. But hindsight is a funny thing, and Josh and I remained hesitant in the months prior. We spoke about our desire to attend as well as our apprehension.
“I got really caught up in it because you look at photos from Oasis in the ‘90s, it looks amazing,” says Josh. “I think people think they're buying tickets for that. I don't want to put a negative spin on it, but it will be interesting to see.” Many reunion tours still teeter on that line of reliving the glory days rather than creating new ones, an argument not yet concluded by the Oasis tour—or the many destined to come.
David Lynch, as well as Wes Anderson, were also topics of conversation. Josh had labeled them as inspirations in his work, and I was keen to find out how that visual inspiration translated sonically.
Primarily through music videos and narratives, Josh explains: “The music videos are reflective of what the image of the song I was trying to convey, but with words, and that's still definitely true.” He continues, “That's something that's continued in the way I write. I'm trying to describe scenes. I've always liked the idea that I like the music I write, [as it gives me the ability to genre bounce]. I don't do it intentionally. I just want to try different sounds.”
“I always try to think, ‘Well, as long as the songs could all fit in the same film, then I'm okay.’ You can have different styles, different genres, as long as they all kind of have the same sort of emotional binder to keep them together. I think this still completely informs how I write and how I want music to sound.”
“Easy Feeling”
As mentioned before, I stumbled upon The Joshua Hotel when viewing a snippet from their music video “Easy Feeling.” A dreamy song about love and longing, accompanied by a fitting music video of hazy visuals and moving overlays.
“I don't think I've ever made a music video that was so close to what I had in my head; it just really worked,” Josh explains as I shared my love for the video. “I just wanted it to be nostalgic and trippy and have a subtle sadness to it as well. And I think it's kind of got that; there's something there that’s a bit ominous about it.”
And it really does. The vision for the music video is clear, yet still forces the watcher to reflect upon their own relationships, their own longings, and sit with it as the song accompanies those thoughts in the background.
Common Ground
Whilst our conversations painted us both as old-media enjoyers, a definite fact, we also found common ground in our love of some new(er) releases. Whether that was One Day’s soundtrack—“I thought they did a really good job at capturing the essence of that time,” Josh reveals—or All of Us Strangers, a personal favorite we both loved. “I always thought of ‘Always on My Mind’ as a cheesy song, but the way that was placed in the film made me listen to it in a completely different way.”
Another similarity was our UK roots and experience within the creative industry. Despite an album on the way, it is not always an easy feat, with Josh noting support from schemes like Creative Scotland, which helped his journey. “I think Britain has a really strong artistic identity, and I think it is so important to preserve that,” Josh argues. “We played in Middlesbrough, and the people there are so wonderful and so passionate about music, but the place is so underfunded.”
“It gives people a sense of self-worth if you’re a creative person and there are places where you can actually go and get funding; and that it doesn’t have to be commercially driven like, 'here's money to do the thing you were born to do.’ I don’t think governments appreciate how much it defines the cultural identity of countries. If you keep strangling the funding, you’re just going to create a dull culture where tourism isn’t going to thrive as there isn’t a reason to come.”
“It does help the economy in the long run and it preserves heritage and culture, so it’s a real shame certain parts of England are really struggling.” A pattern becoming increasingly glaring not only in the UK but also in the USA, with the recent defunding of CPB (Corporation for Public Broadcasting), it is becoming more and more bleak for all the creatives out there, making projects like Creative Scotland all the more important.
The Album
‘Rapture Party,’ The Joshua Hotel’s debut album, has a sound reminiscent of both their past work as well as some new, experimental sound. “What’s been released before can give you an indication as to how it’s going to sound,” Josh says, “but I think there's much more exploration in the ideas. I thought of it as being the soundtrack to a film, but there is no film. It’s through the songs; it bounces around genres.”
“Were there any films in mind?” I asked as we discussed themes of childhood and reflection further. Josh mentions 2001’s ‘Donnie Darko’ and 2002’s ‘The Rules of Attraction.’ Now, the album isn’t about time travel or a raunchy rom-com, but Josh emphasizes it’s about how the “soundtrack interacts with the film.”
‘Rapture Party,’ much like the score to a coming-of-age movie, says the unspoken words only able to be expressed through your favorite song or a retrospective lens gained solely by revisiting experiences years later.
The album releases in September, and when asked which song Josh is most excited for people to hear, he wants to leave it up to the listener.
“It’s really difficult because there’s so many elements of my personality in each song lyrically. Maybe the first song on the album, which is called ‘Home Town 2001,’ it's not the biggest, but it just sets the tone for the album pretty well,” he argues. “But I look forward to people putting the album on and starting from there.”
Their debut album, ‘Rapture Party,’ is out 26 September wherever you get your music. I highly recommend it whether you’re a 90s dreampop girl, an indie lover, or just really love good music.
