based on the poem from John Masefield "Sea Fever".  words below:

I must go down to the seas again,
To the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship
And a star to steer her by;
And the wheel’s kick and the wind’s song
And the white sail’s shaking,
And a grey mist on the sea’s face,
And a grey dawn breaking.
 
I must go down to the seas again, 
For the call of the running tide
Is a wild call and a clear call 
That may not be denied;
And all I ask is a windy day 
With the white clouds flying,
And the flung spray and the blown spume, 
And the sea-gulls crying.
 
I must go down to the seas again, 
To the vagrant gypsy life,
To the gull’s way and the whale’s way 
Where the wind’s like a whetted knife;
And all I ask is a merry yarn 
From a laughing fellow-rover,
And quiet sleep and a sweet dream 
When the long trick is over.

Ocean Daze

Sea Fever

Lyrics
----------
Love isn’t dangerous, if you don’t know what to say
Just pay at the entrance and it will be okay
Tell me again why you want to be alone
How can you tell if you never feel at home?

Oh, brother, are you listening now?
Take the words and make them work somehow
I’m not alone, I’m just lying at home in my afterthoughts
Here comes the rain and I’m smiling again in these silent knots
Where’s the worry now?

Wade in the water, you’re feeling over-alive
Drink in the cloud now before the sun arrives
Let it be real, let it be whole
It’s only the struggle that’s weighing down your soul

Oh, brother, are you listening now?
Take the words and make them work somehow
I’m not alone, I’m just lying at home in my afterthoughts
Here comes the rain and I’m tied up again in these silent knots

Oh oh oh, brother, are you listening now?
Take the words and make them work somehow
I’m not alone, I’m just lying at home in my afterthoughts
Here comes the rain and I’m smiling again in these silent knots
Where’s the worry now?

Afterthoughts

Lyrics
----------
Where is the music?
Where is the sea?
Between the mountains and the mangroves
We could let the world be
I hope I see you
I hope you came
I’ll carry on to Acapulco
Where my heart beats in the rain,
Carry on to Acapulco
Where my heart beats in the rain

Take me down to the silence in the sound 
Take me down
Take me down to the silence in the sound 
Take me down
Take me down

What did you hide here?
What did you fear?
Did you get lost behind the prophets
Screaming secrets in your ears?
I hope I see you
I hope you care
I’ll carry on to Acapulco
Where my heart beats in the air,
Carry on to Acapulco
Where my heart beats in the air

Take me down to the silence in the sound 
Take me down
Take me down to the silence in the sound 
Take me down
Take me down
Take me down

Where is the music?
Where is the sea?
Between the mountains and the mangroves
We could let the world be
I hope I see you
I hope you came
I’ll carry on to Acapulco
Where my heart beats in the rain,
I’ll carry on to Acapulco
Where my heart beats in the rain
I’ll carry on to Acapulco
Where my heart beats in the rain

Take me down to the silence in the sound
Take me down to Acapulco
Where my heart beats in the rain
Take me down to the silence in the sound
Take me down to Acapulco
Where my heart beats in the rain

Acapulco

Lyrics
----------
It’s getting late and I can’t stay
I’m going back, back to my ocean daze
I find it hard, but that’s okay
I'm going back, back down to yesterday

And baby, I can’t be your medicine
I’ve got to sleep alone tonight
Wake up to find the rain is gone
Did it fall all night?

I’m holding on but something’s changed
I’m going back, back down to rearrange

Oh baby, I can’t be your medicine
I’ve got to sleep alone tonight
Wake up to find the rain is gone
Did it fall all night?

Oh well, I can’t be your medicine
I’ve got to sleep alone tonight
Wake up to find the rain is gone
Did it fall?
Did it change my world at all?
Did it fall?
Did it change my world at all?
Did it fall?
Did it change my world?

It’s getting late and I can’t stay
I’m going back, back to my ocean daze

Lyrics
----------
Now the blue, the blue is calling
And my heart, the current carries on
Though I’ll be leaving when morning paints you
I will not be gone

Now the blue, the blue is calling
And my heart, the current carries on
Though I’ll be leaving when morning paints you
I will not be gone

If you go down to the harbour
And you find a place amongst the trees
You may hear a silent Music
That’s where i will be.

The Blue

remind me to stay

honey in the dark

morning eyes

way back home

holding on

Hello friend!  This is first single from my new EP "way back home", available on 22 January 2025.
available on all platforms - https://lnkfi.re/joshu-holding-on

released november 20, 2024
created in antigua & barbuda

credits
----------
music/lyrics - joshua huntington-rainey
audio production - Josh
audio mastering - gäetan golembuski
----------

To me, holding on is a song about letting go; looking at a broken relationship, or an identity given to you in childhood, and realising that is no longer serves you. There’s a profound difficulty in letting things change, so the chorus is a kind of affirmation to acknowledge the pain of moving on. With gentle self-compassion, we can let go of comfortable definitions of ourselves, and move into the freedom of something more true.


second single from my ep "way back home", out 22 January 2024.

listen on all platforms: https://hypeddit.com/joshu/honey-in-the-dark

track 3 from my debut ep 'lines of time' available everywhere.

Lines of Time

Please Don't Change

Please Don’t Change

track 1 from my debut ep 'lines of time' available everywhere.

Maybe

track 4 from my debut ep 'lines of time' available everywhere.

The Light

track 5 from my debut ep 'lines of time' available everywhere.

The Shade

track 6 from my debut ep 'lines of time' available everywhere.

It's You

It’s You

track 7 and title track from my debut ep 'lines of time' available everywhere.

the first single from my debut ep "lines of time", coming 20 january 2019.

watch the video: https://youtu.be/tKE8aMgftL0
get the single: joshu.art/music/where-did-the-time-go


lyrics
---------
hello stranger, i'm a child
i can show you how you used to smile
be the things you can't express
that's when truth is at its best

i remember well
the way you used to tell
of how we found the sea
by mama’s mango tree
we all live in between
the silent silver screen
and someone’s fading dream

where did the time go? 

is this the way to half moon bay?
are these the words that you could never say?
is this the place i learned to laugh
before the silence in the photographs?

i remember well
the way you used to tell
of how we found the sea
by mama’s mango tree
we all live in between
the silent silver screen
and someone’s fading dream

where did the time go?


credits
---------
created in antigua & barbuda, 2018
recorded at irie fire studios

music / lyrics: joshu
producers: justin “jus bus” nation & joshu
recording engineer: hani hechme
mastering engineer: gaëtan golembiewski

vocals / guitar / bass / percussion: joshu
drums: david flemming
violin: dan hodd

artwork illustration: de la antigua

Lines of Time EP

Where Did The Time Go

watch the video: https://youtu.be/FskSKPjYF8o
stream/download: https://lnkfi.re/NotThisTimeSingle

music - joshu & jack rainey
production - torsten stenzel & joshu


lyrics
----------

Felt the words around me, beating at my chest
Shouldn’t be so hard but they’re all that I have left
She helps me find the ones that I forget
But not this time

Saw her in the distance making darkness glow
I think she used to save me, I think she used to know
I held her mind, before I could forget
But not this time

Mmm, not this time
Mmmmm

Fell between the pages, couldn’t make a sound
Looking for the reasons while the breeze was all around
She left behind the things that I regret
But not this time

Felt the words around me, beating at my chest
Shouldn’t be so hard but they’re all that I have left
She helps me find the ones that I forget
But not this time

Mmm, not this time
Mmm, not this time

Where, where are all the reasons?
Where, where are all the signs?
Where, where are all the laughs I couldn’t find?
Maybe I’ll forget
But not this time

Mmm, not this time
Mmm, not this time
Mmm, not this time
Mmm, not this time

Not This Time (Single)

Not This Time

Not This Time (Joshu & Jack Rainey)

Collaboration between Joshu (Antigua) & India Blue (England), finding folk patterns in our trans-Atlantic memories.



Lyrics
----------
I’ve been lost in a butterfield
I’ve been seeing in blue
Making like I’ve been ready to
Head on to you

There’s a saying by the waterside
It doesn’t matter what you do
This life is just a breath of air
Like a stone, you’ll fall through

Are we late for the opening?
Has the dusk been and gone?
I’ve been so busy becoming
I forgot how to be anymore

Maybe I'm Honey

Butterfield Waltz

Butterfield Waltz (India Blue & Joshu)

Collaboration between Joshu (Antigua) & India Blue (England), finding folk patterns in our trans-Atlantic memories.



Lyrics
----------
Wind come take me now
Before I got my own way

Bartered by the night
Three knots take me west
In the morning

Shall we find the Summerland
Beneath the quickening?
The quickening

Tired morning sun
Changing tack alone
Again

Nothing left undone
Make good my way
Oh, Atlas

Shall we find the Summerland
Beneath the quickening?
The quickening

In between the I and me

3 Knots

3 Knots (India Blue & Joshu)

Collaboration between Joshu (Antigua) & India Blue (England), finding folk patterns in our trans-Atlantic memories.



Lyrics
----------
What am I to do
When the fire’s never ending
And the ember’s turning blue?

What am I to do
when the house begins to crumble
And all I’ve got is glue?

What am I to do
When the lying dandelion
Says it’s only half-past two?

What am I to do
When they promise endless safety
If I stay inside the zoo?

Only time will tell
How could we run away and join the circus?
Only time will tell
If something’s sitting underneath the surface
Oooh

What am I to do
When the sunlight plays me gentle
On a satin afternoon?

What am I to do
When my breath becomes the iron spring
That leaks into the room?

What am I to do?
What am I to do?
What am I to do?
What am I to do?

What Am I To Do?

What Am I To Do? (India Blue & Joshu)

collaboration between Joshu (antigua) & India Blue (england), finding folk patterns in our trans-atlantic memories.

watch the video:  https://youtu.be/rdWvI-seOQE 
listen to the song: https://lnkfi.re/StNectan


Lyrics
----------
I was found by the altar
Wearing red for a change
My brother once told me
It’s where you go to be saved
Ahh

I drank a spoon of warm water
Held my hand to the flame
Listened for footsteps
It’s what you do to stay sane
Ahh

Ribbon come tie round my finger
And help me in floating away
I forgot what I need to remember
So I’ve packed it away for today
Ahh

The pots that I’m turning are turning to ashes
The slippery surface is keeping me balanced
The stars are all moving but nobody noticed
The colours cascading inside of the darkness

I see it all
It all

Maybe I'm honey
Maybe I’m stray
It sounds kind of funny
It’s one way to play safe

The Ballad of St. Nectan

The Ballad of St. Nectan (India Blue & Joshu)

Raised in Antigua & Barbuda on mangoes, calypso, and the ocean, Joshu crafts quietly beautiful indie folk songs meant for gentle afternoons or silent moments alone.  With British roots, his Caribbean childhood was steeped in the eclectic musical tastes of his parents and the island.  From John Martyn to Jack Johnson to King Short Shirt, these influences have inspired a beautiful combination of folk and groove with deep lyrical content.

His first EP Lines of Time, co-produced with Justin “JusBus” Nation (John Legend, Jah Cure, Kes) garnered over 2 million streams, with the single Where Did the Time Go winning the John Lennon Songwriting Contest in 2019.  Following this success, they collaborated again on the follow-up Ocean Daze EP, which interwove gaelic-inspired melodies and West Indian rhythms for a soft, nostalgic island sound.

Emerging from the pandemic, just as his covid project was getting dangerously close to becoming a full time job (he started a mushroom farm), Joshu returned with a Mahogany Session, featuring the title track of his new EP, way back home.  Inspired by a journey sailing across the Atlantic, the record serves as an introspective exploration of place, pondering how one comes to belong in a land, and the quiet discomfort of never feeling truly at home.

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