Harnessing softly slung chord progressions, frictionless beats, and a pastel pallet of wavy instrumentation, Leeds newcomer JWestern releases intoxicating debut single Call You Right Now.
The breezy tone suggests a sound more indebted to South Central L.A. than his bedroom in England, but JWestern – AKA John Gooding – embraces the contrast. He combines both sides of the coin to create a woozy rural metropolis, where the streets look like degraded 35mm film stock, catching snapshots of a permanent summer.
John reveals the inspiration comes from a personal place; “At the time of writing the track I was going through quite a bad patch in a relationship that I knew my heart wasn’t fully in, but I didn’t know how to express how I was feeling. Lyrically, the song became my outlet. It’s me trying to come to terms with insecurities and indecisiveness I felt and whether the decisions I was making were the right ones. I wasn’t sure what I fully wanted but I knew I needed to give myself time and space away from everything and anything”.
Lured to the iridescent neo-soul/hip-hop culture orbiting Soundcloud, discovering Rejjie Snow and Tom Misch aged 14 was like a bump of raw medicine. After further falling into the worlds of King Krule and Steve Lacy, John was soon crafting his own jazz and hip-hop adjacent doses of indie, naturally radiating a wonky ooze of synaesthesia, crackling with reality.
He emerges with a confidence stemming from hours chipping away at his art, secluded in his bedroom, until his embryonic demos were sculpted into fully formed bops-in-waiting.
Now, JWestern is primed and ready to step into the hazy space occupied by Easy Life, Arlo Parks, Yellow Days or Still Woozy – and Call You Right Now is a compelling calling card.
