Jeshua

"a whispered melancholy and a bittersweet aloofness”- Vic Galloway (BBC Radio Scotland)

"delightful, lo-fi yet soaring line in dreamy, gliding guitar pop" - Backset Mafia

‘Esther’ is the freshly reworked new single from Glasgow-based Dundonian Jeshua and is set to be the first release to mark the 30th Anniversary of Glasgow’s staple student ran label Electric Honey (Belle and Sebastian, Biffy Clyro, Snow Patrol).

This is first release from Jeshua (aka Joshua Gray) since his dreamy melancholy debut album Unreliable Narrator dropped in the Summer of 2021, and it sees him revisiting a track from the album and giving it a fresh lick of paint to the lockdown release, after having the opportunity to see the track flesh out and flourish in a live environment. 

This reincarnation of ‘Esther’ sees Jeshua collaborating with producer Jamie Holmes (Declan Welsh, Theo Bleak) and it washes over you in an effortless fashion, it’s dreamy aloof pop with a glimmer of hope, despite the mantra about death and religion following the passing the singer’s grandmother.

The addition of live drums adds a flamboyant energy and a summery warmth, lifting ‘Esther’ from its understated shoegazing roots, segueing into upcoming material, which promises to be more collaborative in nature after working with three separate producers on this track.

“‘Esther’ isn't the happiest song in the world, but it does have uplifting moments and the live drums definitely bring a lot more energy and lightness to it, which helps it skip along. It's just a great addition and feels more like what I originally wanted it to be like, although the original has its own charm.

“Overall, the song develops and comes to conclusion. It's more of a positive message than negative, but yeah, it kind of deals with both things. False hope can be a real thing if we believe in life after death, but that could be a positive thing as well. 

“My Gran was so religious and I think religion really comforted her in the stages where she's facing death. So, yeah, there's good behind it. Seeing that as a young person as well, it’s food for thought.”