Josh Tavares released a groundbreaking album titled “Anonymous” that you will become highly emotionally invested in. This album begins with the single “Fake”. This emotionally heart-rendering record moves you with every element of the song. What I loved most about this track was the vulnerability and sentimental delivery in it. This song gave me the idea that there was a deep meaning behind the lyricism. “Fake” feels as if it was written like a personal expression from Josh Tavares himself. The way the song was arranged gave us a more insightful look at the emotions and mindset of Josh Tavares.
The next single that transitions in on this album are “Actress”. “Actress” along with “Fake” was another emotionally convicted record that felt like it had a deeper meaning behind the surface lyrics. It’s clear by now, that Josh Tavares' passionate vocal delivery is carrying us through this thought-provoking album that gives us a reflection of our emotions. Singles like “I Don’t Know What I Want” & “Sleepless Nights” continued this poetically driven and unguarded emotional vibe to the album. However, “Sleepless Nights” stood out to me the most because it enhanced my emotions the most. I really felt connected to this song and was able to personally relate to the soaring passionate melody. What’s unique about “Sleepless Nights” was the inclusion of a rough raw rap segment that helped the song pop out even more for me.
“Family Man” and “Come Back In A Dream” continued this atmospheric and hazy vibe filled with exposed feelings that’s underlined behind the lyrics. A single on this album that really triggered the focus for me was “Anonymous”. “Anonymous” is the title of the album, so when I saw that there was a song on this project that complemented the title of the album, I immediately wanted to take a listen to the track and analyze it in-depth. “I just want to feel like myself again” was a leading and standout lyric on this song that showed us a lot about not only the album but how Josh Tavares is unforgivingly expressing himself through his music. This is highly commendable and showed us that he was able to strip away from his artist’s outlook and let us know that he to, go through many emotions we experience. The next song that transitions in “West Coast” was a descriptive display with an aesthetic that offers an escape from your day to day realities. The vibes of this album so far remind me of a more sentimental version of “The Neighbourhood”. Despite the amazing comparison, Josh Tavares style is quite unique and still holds its own torch.
The singles “Falling” and “All This Time” was extremely relatable for me. These songs evoked the themes of heartbreak, lost love, and disappointment. These are feelings mostly everyone will experience at least once in this lifetime. Josh Tavares has this raspy, gritty vocal tone that’s super digestible and specifically caters to this sad & dwell some vibe of his music. The closing song on “Anonymous” was “Room 307”. “Room 307”. “Room 307” was a song that showcased Josh Tavares storytelling abilities. You were able to follow along with the song due to how the lyrics gave a cinematic approach to the arrangement. Josh Tavares opens up in the album “Anonymous”. He allows his emotions to vent through his lyrics with a mystical atmosphere that leaves you wondering for more.
You can listen to this breathtaking album “Anonymous” here.
Welcome back to BuzzMusic Josh Tavares! Tell us about your background! How was it growing up and what motivated you to pursue music?
From a very young age, I was always making up songs and insisting anyone who I crossed paths with to listen to. Family, friends, classmates, neighbors. LITERALLY ANYONE. I still cringe thinking about forcing my entire class to watch me perform a song that I was really making up on the spot (being stranded on a desk was one of those groundbreaking concepts from grade four me) *slumps into the corner forever*. I can't remember the exact moment I decided I wanted to pursue music, but I also can't remember a time in my life when music wasn't important to me.
Let’s talk about your album “Anonymous”. What are some of the themes we can find in this project?
The album as a whole is about finding yourself and moving on after losing yourself in another person (or a group of people). The album touches on the betrayal of someone who meant the world to you, to losing sleep over it, to wishing they'd come back, and ultimately looking back and realizing that what you thought was sunshine and rainbows was really rotting flowers and sewage water.
The lyrics were all beautifully well-written with a good emotional conviction. What inspired most of the songs from “Anonymous”?
Well, thanks :) A lot of the songs came from a situation that put me in a very sad, angry place. But I'm not in that place anymore. All of the songs come from the idea of betrayal but also realizing that it wasn't one-sided. I messed up. The people the songs are about messed up. The entire album is about losing someone and going through withdrawal (and all the emotions that come from that).
“Room 307” was a song with a storytelling appeal. In what ways were you able to personally relate to this record?
Room 307 is very much about my life when I was finally getting out of that "funk" I was in. The song references driving back East, which plays on the idea of another song on the album, West Coast (which is about putting yourself in a different headspace expecting everything to be bright and sunny, but it ultimately is the opposite). Room 307 is about leaving the past behind and "checking in" to a new place of moving on.
Did you stumble upon any challenges when creating “Anonymous”? If so mind describing them?
I've been writing songs for a loooooong time but I've only been working with producers since early this year. The biggest challenge for me in every song I do is putting what I want a song to sound like into words. My notes to producers are usually just me rambling on and sending voice notes of weird sounds that sound a lot better in my head. Yet somehow, they usually exceed my expectations.
What’s next for you Josh Tavares?
I'm still writing - not sure what the next project will be yet, but I don't plan on taking a break anytime soon. I've also just started performing my songs and I plan on doing a lot more showcases in 2020.