In mid-October the successor of Pete Josef’s debut album «Colour» will see the light of day via Sonar Kollektiv. The thrill of anticipation is almost unbearable – not only amongst the steadily increasing fan base of Josef’s music. That’s why we get another pre-taste of the upcoming album named «I Will Rise With The Birds» after we already enjoyed the first singe «Giants».
«Lavender» is a song that sounds as pleasant sweet as the fragrance of the plant of the same name. As a listener you best lay down in a vast flower meadow, take a deep breath and let yourself ensnare by Pete Josef’s unique and embalming voice. The horns (John Pratt and Gary Alesbrook) and the strings (Bernie Mallinger and Clemens Sainitzer) will surely feel like butterflies dancing around your nose. «Lavender» is a song for all those who are already in love and those who still want to fall into love.
The blue-eyed soul singer from Bristol has come to be a well-respected multi-instrumentalist and producer over the years merging jazz, soul, pop, and electro and collaborating with Manu Delago, Rag’n’Bone Man and Roni Size among others.
Taking all of the production reins himself, alongside long-time collaborators John Pratt and Ben Plocki (on sax), Rory Francis and Justin Fellows (on percussion) and Marie Lister and Blythe Peppino (on vocals), Pete has layered up fantastic compositions, lush string arrangements and subtle electronica textures as well as a broad sense of scale to these songs without losing any of the intimacy or devotion we’ve come to expect from him.
The placid and the jaunty moments balance each other perfectly throughout the album. «I Rise With The Birds» starts off with «Night Eyes», a proper wake-up song for after a long night out, if there ever was one. Pete’s qualities as a singer-songwriter come into full bloom with songs like «Friend On The Line», «Lavender» or the bittersweet «Snatching Time». You almost tend to believe that these are only cover versions and not original songs by Pete Josef himself. The danceable tracks like «Mainframe» (co-written by Alex Barck from Jazzanova and Sebastian Damerius) or «Giants» also have huge hit potential and will work as well on the dancefloor as on the radio. This is altogether an honorable sophomore album. And whoever wants to be in the same street as Pete Josef right now has to get up early, as early as the birds rise.
