Josh Roberts Attempts to "Pretend It Never Happened," in New Single

Soaring in from Nashville, Tennessee, the evolving pop artist and singer-songwriter Josh Roberts releases a deeply vulnerable and heartfelt single entitled "Pretend It Never Happened."

Beginning his music career through writing, performing, recording, and traveling the country playing backup for various artists, Josh Roberts later began to expand on his solo career. Now releasing a song-by-song project, Josh Roberts hopes to reintroduce himself to the music industry as a full-fledged artist in his own right.

The 6-track project comes to an end with its last release, "Pretend It Never Happened." A heartfelt and vulnerable single, Josh Roberts teamed up with songwriter and producer Bobby Brinker to bring this track to life. "The night we wrote this song, I remember listening to the work tape on my drive home and having this resolved feeling about that relationship. Honestly, it was therapeutic," says Roberts.

Diving into "Pretend It Never Happened," the song peacefully opens with a smooth piano melody and a haunting background vocal sample that sets the song's reflective and introspective tone. As Josh Roberts begins to pour his soft and gentle vocals over our speakers, he later expands on an unhealthy relationship where he'd never expect to be left out to dry.

As he continues to elaborate on the saddening theme of leaving someone in the past and moving forward, Josh Roberts confronts his heart-wrenching emotions while serenading us with the utmost courage. As the tender instrumentals lead us towards the outro, Josh Roberts continues to pull on our heartstrings with his emotional lyricism and engaging performance until the very last beat.

Open your heart with help from Josh Roberts' latest single, "Pretend It Never Happened," available on all digital streaming platforms.

We're deeply impressed with the honest words and lyricism you've delivered within your recent single, "Pretend It Never Happened." What inspired you to write such an emotional and personal piece, like this?

Bobby Brinker (co-writer/producer) played me a piano progression he’d been working on. It felt special to me from the first time I heard it. And the vibe seemed to match up with where I was at getting over someone at the time. It ended up being very therapeutic to write. I remember driving home that night listening to the work tape and just having this happiness and relief I hadn’t felt about it before.

What was your collaborative experience with songwriter/producer Bobby Brinker when creating "Pretend It Never Happened?"

I consider Bobby to be one of the best-kept secrets in Nashville and I was lucky enough to link up and develop a friendship with him, his family, and some of our mutual friends. Bobby hears rhythms, accents, and phrasing that I would have to spend much more time to come up with, not to mention his raw musicianship. This guy played or programmed every instrument you hear on this track. It was originally going to be a very stripped-down piano/vocal. But when we played with the idea of building more around it, I think he nailed it.

Writing with Bobby felt like home very early on. I had always heard that eventually I would find my tribe of people that I work well with and come up with the best stuff with. Bobby was and is a big part of that very small group.

Do you feel that songs like "Pretend It Never Happened" represent you as an artist and the music you create? Do you normally release such emotionally rich songs for the listener to relate?

While this song stands out as the ‘ballad’ of the project, it absolutely represents my style. This 6-song project was released song-by-song at a controllable pace, which I liked. Emotion-wise, I like to try and be as full-circle as I can. PINH leans into the singer/songwriter emotional side of this project’s spectrum.

Could you tell us more about your 6-track project and the theme or concept you deliver? Why did you choose "Pretend It Never Happened" to close the project?

Listening to the 6-songs together, you’ll hear love-loss, hindsight, funky empowerment, hope, and holding on. PINH is the heartbreak song, but there’s a reconciliation in the hook. For me, it's from a place of love and growth while being able to re-visit that moment in time to tell a story. I think a lot of that comes from how this song helped me come out on the other side better for the experience.

What's next for you?

I’m excited for PINH to come out on August 27th. You can check it out wherever you stream music. Closing out this 6-song project is a musical milestone for me. There are already more songs on the “to record and release” list for the coming year. ‘Song-by-song’ has been a cool strategy so far, and I might continue that into the next year. We’ve also got a music video in the works for one of the previous releases, “Keep Up.” We’ll put out more info on that on JoshRoberts.com and social media.

Instagram.com/JoshARoberts