All releases

Any artist is welcome to send us a track via freshonthenet.co.uk anytime between Monday lunchtime and Thursday morning (or when we receive 200 submissions, whichever is sooner) - and all our moderators, including Tom Robinson, will listen to every track. This is our full inbox from the week beginning Mon 3rd Feb: from around midday on Friday you'll be able to hear our shortlist and pick your favourites on this week's Listening Post which will appear at freshonthenet.co.uk/batch353

If a track you submitted does not appear in this list, it’s probably because another of your tracks appeared in our Fresh Faves or on the BBC Music Introducing Mixtape during the last three months — we ask that artists featured on either wait three months before resubmitting to give others a chance. We also don’t accept short previews or SoundCloud Go tracks that can only be heard as 30 second previews, and tracks made private after submission, which will be invisible to everyone. You will be able to resubmit the track in future. Tracks that have been previously submitted and tracks from banned artists will also be removed.

ENTIRE INBOX: Batch 353

'Lost Souls' was written after a period where I was feeling pretty down and hadn't written much for a while. I was struggling a little bit with the pandemic and the feeling that life was on hold and I was missing the best parts of my early 20s. I was also worried about what some of my friends were going through and feeling helpless. So I rolled all of that anxiety into one and wrote this song.

Sonically, it takes influences from a lot of different places - I was listening to a lot of alt-pop / R&B from artists like Lorde and Frank Ocean whilst working on the track, but I think it takes inspiration from indie and hip-hop too.

I produced it myself after spending a lot of time working on my production over the last couple of years. I'm really proud of it - hope you like it and can relate in some way too.
lyrics
Pushing 24
Where did the time go? 
I’m always living life in my mind, so 
Caught up with all the 
Goals and the meaning
Maybe I should have rolled with the feeling

Follow the cycle 
When I get tired of chasing gold 
I just breathe 
Dream up 
Honey sweet memories

Stranger
Don’t lose your soul 
Lift your head up
Keep your control

I remember dreaming 
When I was a boy 
Too many days in my head 
Didn’t miss the time 'til it went 
I miss my friends 
Miss days doing nothing

Lights hurting my head 
From the night before 
My best friends sleeping on the floor
I miss better days 

2020 changed me 
I am not the same me 
Guess I don’t know myself 
Call up my friends see how they’re doing now
But I can never tell 
Cause we don’t talk enough
Lost souls never speak up
Lost souls never speak up

Written, performed and produced by Joseph Bell
Trumpet performed by Solly Slim
Mixed and Mastered by Mybe (Mark Balog)

Lost Souls

Jus Want U (ft. Gigi Atlantis)

The Eye And The Twitch

Mystic Peach - The Eye And The Twitch

Billboards, movies 
Cultural projections 
For us to see 
I’d rather learn the world myself 

I try not to 
Let premonitions shape my speech 
Seek to educate myself 

TV 
Don’t show me 
Perfect people 
For us to be
Done with following someone else 

Caught in the system 
Need to be a gladiator just to breathe
And expectations
Don’t care about your health

Step up, be the best in town 
Even when a million voices drown you out 
Need a brain from the angels 
A body from the Gods 
I’m struggling 

Sort your life out 
Do it now 
Every one of you 
You’re better than this
Need a brain from the angels 
A body from the Gods 
I’m struggling

Fake news 
What’s on today? 
I crave approval
To let you know my life’s ok
Instagram my dancing, 
share my smiles 
Inject the validation
Into my veins

Linkedin 
Please check my CV 
List of achievements 
Don’t I look good on a screen? 
Hide from real life

Need a brain from the angels 
Body from the Gods 
It’s killing me

Listen on Spotify

Flat 15 (Step Up)

Hear Me Out!

The Lights

First single with Tsatsamis from my upcoming Dancing Days EP !!!

Dancing Days

Look Away

Overload

Dawn's Touch

Existential alt-pop 🧙‍♂️
@josephbellchoons
'Stories In My Mind' out now 💙
linktr.ee/josephbellchoons

Joseph Bell’s dreamy alt-pop is as much inspired by the genre-bending sounds of modern songwriters such as Dominic Fike, Lorde and James Blake as it is by the diet of noughties guitars and hip-hop tinged pop he grew up on. Growing up in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, Joseph was playing pub open mic nights by age thirteen and producing his own music by eighteen, before moving to London soon after.

Joseph’s first EP ‘Dancing Days’ was released in 2020 and quickly caught the ears of BBC Introducing, with BBC Shropshire’s Michaela Wylde labelling the EP ‘a musical bubble-bath for the soul’. His song ‘Overload’ was later played on Scott Mills’ BBC Radio 1 show. Since then, Joseph has gone on to play at iconic London venues such as Ronnie Scott’s and the Troubadour, building up a loyal audience both live and online. His second EP ‘Hits’ showcased a darker alt-pop sound, with themes of identity and growing up in the social media age. 

Joseph has continued to build momentum, recording a live session for BBC Introducing which was released on iPlayer in 2024, whilst being made one of the first ‘Creatives in Residence’ to serve at City University’s new School of Communication and Creativity. The first two singles from his next project - ‘Better With You’ and ‘When You Get High’ - build on his sound, blending ethereal, dream-pop like production with washed out guitar hooks and soaring vocals. The end of 2024 saw Joseph sell out his first headline show at cult London venue the Hope and Anchor in a matter of days. As he looks toward 2025, Joseph Bell is ready to hit the ground running.