By the time an artist makes their third album, it’s a safe bet they’ve learned a few lessons. In the case of singer/songwriter Josh Ritchie, those lessons led to taking control of all aspects of So Much More Than a Dream, with the result being a dynamically powerful 11-song collection that blurs the lines between modern rock, experimental folk, and contemporary r&b.
In some ways, it’s the sound of our age, where genres are fluid, and an artist has the tools at their fingertips to take any idea and construct a unique sonic landscape out of it. In film parlance, it’s been called “the auteur theory” for decades, and for Josh Ritchie, it guided his vision throughout the making of So Much More Than A Dream.
“I think with this record I’ve learned how to use the studio as an instrument,” he said. “I have always loved recording and especially recording myself. It’s become an integral part of how I write and compose music but making this record just felt different. I felt more control over my craft, limitations became opportunities, and everything in the room became a tool of expression. Maybe it was luck, or experience, or both, but every experiment seemed to come off, and all the parts just glued together so easily. It’s like everything I could imagine came to life.”
In short, So Much More Than A Dream can be described as a concept album telling the story of a young adult searching for peace and purpose in our increasingly turbulent world. It’s hardly a stretch to say that theme mirrors much of Josh’s life to this point, having grown up BIPOC in Ontario’s Bruce Peninsula. Much of his music to date has been a product of his experiences, but on So Much More Than A Dream he pours his soul into each song, as on the first single, “Numb,” which asks the increasingly common question, “Do you believe in anything at all?”
Josh clearly believes in many things and wants you to believe in them as well. On the anthemic new single “Celestial,” he firmly pins his heart to his sleeve, running through the list of things that sustain his spirit, with love firmly at the top. Later, on the stunning ballad “Vancouver,” he sounds like a young Leonard Cohen, surveying the wreckage of his life amid the wreckage of the inner city. But it’s “Small Town Boys” that Josh highlights as a personal triumph.
“There are a lot of great things about the part of Ontario where I grew up—and still live in—but for a mixed-race kid who wore loud clothes and sang in choirs, it was far from easy,” he said. “I’m the kind of person who would rather decant a nice pinot noir than crush a Busch Light in the back of a pick-up truck. ‘Small Town Boys’ sums up those feelings. But it’s the arrangement that I am most excited for people to hear. I think it encompasses my sensibilities as a musician. It’s quirky but very thought out. There’s also a section with me on guitar and my dad, Rob, on the keys playing in tandem that was purely improvised and is just so raw and organic. It’s a really fun track overall.”
It’s a significant moment in any artist’s life when a new creative path opens, and there’s an overwhelming sense of that on So Much More Than a Dream, an album that not only reflects Josh’s life journey, but also makes an undeniably original musical statement in an age when everyone seems to be searching for “authenticity.” To return to film analogies, Josh likes to cite a line from The French Dispatch, made by one of his favourite directors, Wes Anderson: “However you go about it, just make it seem like you did it on purpose.” There is no doubt that Josh Ritchie does everything with purpose.
Josh Ritchie’s So Much More Than A Dream is out now via Merilainen Music on all digital platforms.
Josh Ritchie Live:
Nov. 8 – Motel Chelsea, Chelsea, QC
Nov. 9 – Musiikki Cafe, Kingston, ON
Related
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.rootsmusic.ca ’
