Though he had a strict Mormon upbringing in south London, singer, songwriter and rapper Josh Collard’s oeuvre is far from restrictive. The 24-year-old makes soft, opulent, sometimes poetically plaintive songs, all marked by a distinctive, rich falsetto.
Collard has been involved in music since his teens (as part of collective Last Night In Paris, he even played Glastonbury), but it was a pair of solo tracks that marked his arrival. Sofa, released in 2017, told a bleak yet somehow beautiful story of sitting with a loved one after they have overdosed. The following year, Ode was performed as a live session on the tastemaking Colors YouTube platform; fittingly, Collard sang the smooth, Prince-inspired track with a tumbler of whisky in his hand. Collard’s name is perhaps also familiar to fans of poet turned singer-rapper Kojey Radical: the two collaborated on Kojey’s acclaimed EP In God’s Body, and more recently on Collard’s own track Ground Control. That single came ahead of Unholy, Collard’s debut album released earlier this month.
There’s a soothing, meditative nature to Collard’s sound and this is an accomplished first set, one that powerfully interrogates inner demons. Collard told i-D: “It’s a study of myself, a study of my religious conscience; how religion plays a part in love, decisions and my interactions with people.”
• Collard plays Camden Assembly Hall on 4 June
