Artist, director and uber producer Wesley Joseph has this week announced details of his debut project ULTRAMARINE – a self-produced record of 8 tracks, set for release via his own EEVILTWINN imprint later this summer.
Featuring collaborations with contemporaries including Jorja Smith, Leon Vynehall and Dave Okumu the album is proceeded by the release of it’s first single, of the same name – a super rhythmic, blistering and brooding hip-hop bop, co-produced by Joseph along with Lexxx (Jai Paul, Pa Salieu, Celeste) and Mike Bozzi (Kendrick Lamar, Tyler The Creator, Mac Miller).
Ultramarine (Official Music Video)
Discussing the inspiration behind the track, Wesley says: “I got a drum machine last year and wrote and recorded ‘Ultramarine’ in my bedroom around the same time. The song had a really dark, romantic, twisted, future funk vibe to it. I couldn’t put my finger on what the feeling was – but it felt eerie and tense, like the soundtrack to a romantic nightmare.”
“When I was working on my project, I created an alter-ego called Fredrick that allowed the real emotions I feel to be humanised and that pushed the limits with the fictional scenarios and worlds I could create for the songs. The lyrics were formed around a nightmare chapter of Fredrick’s life – insomnia-fuelled, out of touch and tweaked-out. I filmed the music video as an expansion of that story and blurred those lines between reality and romanticist night terrors, filled with figments of his imagination that represent his fear of and obsession with love, and how dangerous it can be”.