First single for Edinburgh teen singer Joshua who beat Lady Gaga, Drake and Harry Styles in download charts
Despite playing just five live shows in his short but so far stellar career, the 18-year-old’s musical career has got off to a staggering start.
Having supported one of the biggest names in UK pop, Tom Walker, the ex-busker bagged the top spot in the Scottish charts with his latest release Edinburgh and performed on BBC Scotland’s ‘The Edinburgh Show’.
Joshua, from Cramond, beat stiff competition to land the support slot for Tom at The Caves in the capital back in February, flying home from New York where he was interning for The New York Times for a one-day turnaround just to play the gig.
Fast forward four months and Joshua was enjoying breakthrough success, sitting at number one on the Official Scottish Charts, number 34 on the Official UK Download Charts and in the top 10 worldwide on iTunes with Edinburgh – a track written and recorded in his childhood bedroom.
The homemade release beat the likes of Lady Gaga, Drake and Harry Styles in the week’s download standings and was played on the airwaves across Scotland.
Joshua said: “When I saw the final chart position, I cried. I was sitting at home with my parents and it was just surreal. It’s amazing what can happen when people support grassroots artists and I can’t thank everyone enough who got behind that track. The reception from that has given me a lot of confidence going forward.”
The budding star wrapped up the summer with a performance on BBC Scotland’s flagship Edinburgh festivals programme, ‘The Edinburgh Show’, presented by Grant Stott – closing it with a specially filmed acoustic version of Edinburgh, recorded live at the city’s Usher Hall.
With a new-found fanbase, Joshua’s eyes are now firmly on the future. The youngster, who lists The Snuts and Gerry Cinnamon among his musical idols, is also planning to formally release his track Transparent on Friday, 30 October.
The track boasts an early 2000s Scottish rock feel, reminiscent of Del Amitri, and touches on dealing with change and the difficulty of reaching out and speaking to others.
As well as being available to download and stream on all the usual platforms, Transparent will be released as part of a limited edition vinyl, available from a selection of HMV shops and independent record stores across Scotland, as well as from Amazon and Joshua’s website from Wednesday, November 11.
Joshua added: “Officially releasing Transparent feels like things have come full circle over the last year. I recorded the original version in my room and my guitar and vocals on this new version are from that recording so it’s still got that stripped back feel to it. I’m really excited to share the song with a wider audience now and hope the response is just as positive.”