It’s Monday today…are you following through on your Sunday promises like getting up for a 5AM run followed by a two-hour yoga sesh, drinking homemade organic kale juice, filling out your color-coded to-do list and just in general killing it?
It seems like Mondays are reserved for faintly remembering the words of a life-coach who took a one-month course on Bali who shouts things like “Don’t exist, live!”, or “Rise above average or go home,” or “There are no excuses to not be the greatest you can be”.
Damn…that’s a lot of pressure. That’s why we’re starting today with the opposite energy of featured artist Joshua Warden whose track “Alright” is a reminder to just calm down.
Atlanta-based artist Joshua Worden is having a mature conversation with his inner voices on this latest track, and it’s a conversation we are glad to eavesdrop on.
“You better be cool, you better be fine, better be right, better be perfect” /“Alright, calm down”.
This dialogue repeats over and over again throughout the track. Warden has taken a dramatic and loud internal war and found his role as a diplomat determined to find peace. He’s talking to his demons like they’re mischievous children and he’s the adult in his mind’s room. Instead of screaming back, his response is one of patience. Is this what growing up feels like? Not constantly trying to flick the devil on your shoulder away, but rather coexisting with it?
There is no verse-chorus-bridge-chorus structure in this song – instead, Warden has taken an almost mantra-like approach to the form. Lyrically, but also musically. The same part repeats and slowly develops over and over again. There is a short instrumental break that enters at just the right time where the beat changes and the groove opens up for a moment. The whole production takes a deep breath of anticipation and then we return to that divine steadiness.You’re alright Joshua Warden, you are aaaallll right (and so are we after having this on repeat today)
Listen for: 0:35 – those perfect blended vocal harmonies!!!
Best listened to: When you have your third existential crisis of the day, and you need some help taking the high road with the Inner Critic.
Follow Joshua Worden here