Junk City / JW Ridley / Everything (Deathless) /
My tip, published on The Tipping Point.
Words by Eugenie Johnson.
Personal problems are always hard to go through, but when youâre an artist you at least have the ability to be able to channel your feelings at the hardest of times into your craft. Making sure whatever youâve created isnât overly self-indulgent is the hard part. Luckily, this is a trap Londoner Jack Ridley â better known as JW Ridley â doesnât fall into.
After a year of difficulties, he used his music as a form of catharsis, and ended up blowing the folks at label Speedy Wunderground away in the process.
A few demos he mixed found their way to label boss Pierre Hall, who was âblown awayâ by what he heard. âI hadnât been so excited about a new artist since I first heard Loyle [Carner] and our release with him,â he said. High praise indeed.
JW doesnât rap or use jazzy hip hop production, but like Loyle he does tell a captivating story with a special kind of earnestness. Thatâs demonstrated on his debut single âEverything (Deathless),â where his washed-out but emotive vocals are set against an atmospheric backdrop of New Wave synths and guitar licks that bring to mind The Cure. Itâs a track thatâs somewhat nostalgic, but JW gives it a contemporary twist. In doing so, heâs created a sound thatâs ultimately deathless.