Joshua Winstead, bass player, and long-time member of critically celebrated quartet, Metric, will release his debut solo album MMXX via Royal Cut Records on June 3. After more than a decade playing with Metric, and contributing to all six of their critically acclaimed albums, Winstead set out to record his first proper solo music with a desire to “just try to establish my own voice.” He notes, his desire to make a solo record “stemmed from writing all these very personal songs and served as a way to connect with his lifelong love of singing.”
“I grew up singing and I played in a number of rock bands where I was always a singer/guitar player. I realized that I really missed singing, and knew it was time to make an album,” says Winstead about his decision to go solo.
Primarily recorded at Brooklyn’s Mission Sound, as well as studios across the world while on tour with Metric, each of the tracks was written and produced by Winstead, with the exception of some live drums, the multi-instrumentalist made the record entirely on his own, recording all the vocals, playing piano, guitar, bass, synthesizers, harmonium, and trumpet.
Glide is premiering “Games” (below) off MMXX, a lush jewel of a composition that finds Winstead able to recreate the sounds in his head with the aptness of a true visionary. With his warm/earnest voice and woozy/lush musicianship “Games” ties a common thread to composers like Justin Vernon (Bon Iver) and Bonnie Prince Billy.
“There are songs that come to you out of the ether, as a feeling as if they were known from long ago, the song “Games” was one those songs for me,” says Winstead about the track. “While this is an exciting feeling to have while producing a song, it doesn’t always make the song the easiest to finish. But I fully enjoyed the struggle that came with finishing this piece of music. It is my favorite track to turn up loud and play air drums and air bass to.”
