JOSH KUMRA – ‘Waiting For You’ – Single January 6th
Likened to a young Ray LaMontagne or Ben Harper, Josh Kumra is rapidly developing a name for himself as a gutsy and heartfelt performer and songwriter.
You are already familiar with his unmistakable voice – the summer of 2011 saw Wretch 32 re-work one of Josh’s songs, ‘Don’t Go’, leading to a #1 single and Josh taking to the stages of Glastonbury and V, as well as performing on ‘Later With Jools Holland’ and Radio One’s Live Lounge.
This year Josh toured consistently, winning fans up and down the country and sharing the stage with some of the brightest emerging UK talent including Labrinth, Delilah and Gabrielle Aplin, combining this with time in the studio to pen a brilliant debut album.
‘Waiting For You’ is a suitably accomplished first taster – a song that sees Josh’s exquisitely textured, husky vocals preside over a choir of gravel-digging gospel and marching blues soul, it is stylistically evocative of both Gnarls Barkley and of Kanye West’s ‘Jesus Walks’, with the beautiful and distinctive production coming courtesy of the renowned artist Fink. At the heart of it is a gorgeously realized ballad that injects just the right amount of devotional soul swagger into unmistakably contemporary British pop, serving as a magnificent first offering of what’s to come from this fast-rising young troubadour.
Josh will be playing at the Union Chapel on December 14th
He will also be opening for Lianne La Havas on Feb 28th, March 1, 2, 4 2013
Watch the video for ‘Waiting For You’ here: