A sophomore release is never easy but Joseph Hughes, the man behind The Birthday Letters, proves that it's possible to hit the nail on the head. The Birthday Letters' first release 'Human Beauty' featured infectious melodies that fluctuated around his strong lyric writing creating a unique sound and identity and to say the least, it was received well. However, The Birthday Letters has found areas of improvement to create a flawless second offering which comes in the form of LP 'Yearning for Vitalists.'
The body of work flows through different moods effortlessly, going from indie-rock bangers to more emotionally penned tracks, which offer intricate acoustic ideas. Delicate vocality, carefully crafted lyrics and an ethereal atmosphere are his expression of our everlasting wonder of our planet, questioning everything along the way.
Speaking to us about the release he says: "“In a world where rationalism is king, I think there is space within the culture for mystery and that is what the album title is essentially about. I think the world is yearning for a little more mystery. I want my music to be a space where I can sing about strange ideas. There is so much music out there that deals with exactly the same lyrical territory, so I’m always keen to try something new. I’m sure most people find this pretentious but in fact, I think there’s a lot of value in pretension. All art is a pretension to one degree or another, if we are to interpret pretension as style.
The recording took place at home and often songs started with a musical idea before I’d get to work on the lyrics. I find lyrics probably the most important thing about what I do, as all my favourite songwriters (Leonard Cohen, Father John Misty, Joni Mitchell) are people who primarily deal with complex ideas and play with them. It’s just what I enjoy. The music then tends to come easier and tends to be more fun, I try not to overthink it. If it moves me, then I tend to find that’s a good barometer if it will move anyone else. All instruments were performed by me and it was also mixed at home. One of my fave bands ever, The Radio Dept, have always embraced the lo-fi and I’ve always been inspired by that and used it as a guiding principle.”
With so many accolades under his belt, we can't wait to see what is in store for this singer-songwriter.