Jan. 5, 2023 –– Fresh off the impactful release of his first two singles, epic “Icarus In Motion” and chilled-out “No Beginning, No Conclusion,” emerging Miami-based indie soul artist JOSCH (A.K.A. Josh Schwartz) looks to further showcase his musical palette with his newest track, “Fantasies Don’t Cry.” The song combines bombastic 6-piece horns, funky 70’s clavinet from keyboardist Swatkins (Allen Stone, Scary Pockets), a driving back beat and Schwartz’s soulful vocals dripping with attitude. “Fantasies” is the frustrated confessions of a scorned lover who gets kicked to the curb without warning, replaced by someone else. The opening query, “Did I miss the meeting when you decided to dust me off the shelf?” moves quickly into the accusatory “your heart is fleeting, your mind will mirror someone else.” So begins the journey into the mind of the heartbroken and confused protagonist that waffles between deep hurt, bitter resentment, and a begrudging acceptance of the fact that “romance, to me, can die.” Stream “Fantasies Don’t Cry” here.

“The concept that one’s reality, the model of their universe they put together in their mind, can be shattered instantly by getting broken up with, that has always fascinated me,” muses Schwartz. “Whether it’s getting dumped, losing a friendship, getting fired from a job, we’ve all experienced some kind of event that makes us question our perception of others, of ourselves, even our own sanity. It makes you wonder if you can really trust your senses and your gut. My aim with “Fantasies” was to channel that heavy mass of emotions in a way that brings a bit of levity to the situation. I think having me sing the vocal melody in unison with myself but an octave higher lends some Scissor Sisters-esque sassiness and humor to what could other wise have been a pretty dark song.”

While he recorded the song during the pandemic, Schwartz wrote it while in college around 2007 on acoustic guitar. ““Fantasies” is one of the few songs I’ve written that’s stuck with me for years. When I showed it to [then-bandmate] Dave Brandwein, who was producing my album, he loved the soulful, R&B style choruses but hated the verses. On the demo, I played the song on acoustic guitar and swung the rhythm slightly, which Dave rightly pointed out sounded a bit cheesy, kind of 90’s pop rock. The verses just didn’t match the vibe of the chorus, or of the other songs for that matter. But I wasn’t ready to give up on the song.” So Brandwein and Schwartz put their heads together and realized that with a few tweaks to the chords, beat and instrumentation, they could transform the song into a 70’s-inspired funky strut. Adding the 6-piece horn arrangement, including Grammy and Latin Grammy nominated trombonist Quinn Carson, was the cherry on top that really tied everything together.

Mixing all the myriad elements of “Fantasies” was no easy feat, but mixing engineer Kyle VandeKerkhoff was more than up for the challenge, and mastering engineer Joe Bozzi made VandeKerkhoff’s mix shine. Rob O’Block, as with Schwartz’s first two singles, was heavily involved in the production of the song. His menacing, synthetic-sounding guitar playing evocative of The Black Keys soars in the instrumental sections, and he added other guitar and electric bass parts along with drum-replacing and other production elements that helped the song go from demo to done. Dave Brandwein, former leader of 9-piece funk band Turkuaz of which Schwartz was a part, produced “Fantasies.”

“Fantasies Don’t Cry” is but one of the many powerful songs that will make up his forthcoming full-length album, “Ethereality.” Stay tuned to see and hear where else JOSCH plans to take you.

ABOUT THE ARTIST:

Drawing from a wide pool of inspirations ranging from funk, R&B and electronic music to soul, pop and lyrically-based folk music, indie soul artist Josh Schwartz, A.K.A. JOSCH (pronounced like ‘Josh’), spent 2022 touring with Zac Brown Band (on their “Out In The Middle” stadium tour) and currently tours with rock and roll legends Jerry Harrison and Adrian Belew (on their “Remain In Light” tour) as well as disco funk band Cool Cool Cool. He spent the previous decade touring internationally with indie funk band Turkuaz. As a baritone sax player and featured vocalist in all these settings, he has often been at home on the sidelines of the stage; now, with the birth of his solo project, JOSCH is ready to take center stage and share with the world even more of his creative contributions.