Joshua Idehen releases his proper debut; an intoxicating mix of hope, humility and humour from an individual wanting the best of everyone, and the best from us all. 

I KNOW YOU’RE HURTING…

Joshua Idehen’s long-awaited proper debut, I Know You’re Hurting, Everyone is Hurting, Everyone is Trying, You Have Got To Try, lands like a euphoric exhale after years of mixtapes, collaborations, and personal reinvention. Born from divorce, depression, George Floyd’s murder, and his daughter’s birth—chronicled in his 2023 Learn To Swim mixtape—it’s the sound of a poet-preacher fully stepping centre stage, barefoot and defiant. Surging house beats at 130 BPM cradle introspective monologues, turning grief into communal rave therapy. These are songs for the soulful delivered in a way that only Joshua Idehen knows – with a smile upon his face. 

From the poetry backstreets of London and then fresh off supporting Baxter Dury, where he bounded onstage demanding Dolly Parton cheers before unity sermons, Idehen bares his soul across these tracks. It’s a compelling, endearing statement amid our bruising political landscape: hold on, hang in there; be yourself while doing it. Seldom will we witness a more joyous release this year.

The Call to Dance

Dance and celebration pulse front and centre. You Wanna Dance or What? channels Streets-esque cheek with sunshine-soaked piano refrains and sampled vocals layering into a cheerful, 60s-tinged summer vibe. It’s Idehen in pastor mode—the rave compère turning rooms into hug-filled utopias. Don’t Let It Get You Down maintains the dancefloor dalliance with classic house propulsion and a simple call to arms: enjoy this moment. This is grounding dancefloor euphoria in everyday warmth, echoing Learn To Swim’s WhatsApp pep talks like “A hot shower cures 99% of bad vibes.” 

Everything Everywhere All at Once dives deeper into the hypnotic house haze, threading a tale of modern romance over choral foundations that reinforce the album’s euphoric embrace. Hips rotate and hope radiates in This Is The Place, urging: “Enjoy this, this is your space.” As the album progresses we move through the deeper cuts, the euphoria of finding hope in dance continues in Could Be Forever which blends social commentary with sumptuous strings and piano, swelling into kwaito-tinged togetherness—a pivot from personal survival to collective repair.

Poetic Pastor

Here, the album’s spine snaps into focus: hurting (heartaches), everyone hurting (societal rifts), everyone trying (self-worth anthems), you gotta try (dance as defiance). For a debut output, this is masterfully put together and in moulding such patterns, Joshua Idehen’s social-poetic-pastor identity shines forth. Delivering a message we all need is no easy task and at no point does Idehen back away from doing so. 

Self-reflection hits hard in My Love, a stirring slow-burn with strings and stunning backing vocals, baring heart and soul. It urges finding the best in each other. Brother uncovers the darker undercurrent that provides shade to the light of the album. Here there lies a pledge to lead by the heart and not masculinity: “The way we have taken out pain and fashioned it into a sonnet,” further broadens the talent of his prose and twisting melodic edge. Whatever Comes delves deeper into this shadowed introspection, building to a resoundingly uplifting close that marks it as the second half’s standout; long time collaborator Ludwig Parment shines here with precise production. 

“The Washing Does Your Mum”

The standout track, Mum Does the Washing— a viral breakout and his live provocateur—tackles class head-on with humanity and warmth. Often introduced as his most controversial, it’s a gut-punch centerpiece: class warfare refusing bleakness for big hooks and a pulse that brings the words to life and the theme to the heart. This is a song you can share with those around you knowing it will twist their world in a way other songs would otherwise fail to. It’s a song so standout, it propelled him to the front stage of Jools Holland. 

As the close nears, Turn it Around throws a final salvo of hope, with Parment’s ripping house beats and purposeful lyrical interplay sealing the resilience mantra. No longer LV’s drifting storyteller or Baxter’s opener, Idehen anchors as gravitational heart. Fatherhood threads through (think It Always Was with mum and daughter), while he names the darkness but dares arms-around-strangers release.

Barefoot Radiance

That barefoot radiance from Manchester’s Albert Hall in 2025 – hope, rhythm, free hugs – infuses every groove (our review here). In our burnt-out times, this isn’t a tentative debut, but a coronation: a rave-side sermon for the weary, part pep-talk / part exorcism, yet all heart. I find Idehen an intoxicating mix of hope, humility and humour and he seems to want the best of everyone, and the best from us all. 

The album tours across the UK in April – these are shows to not miss and promise to be festivals of hope, euphoria and dance. Destinations include: London, Brighton, Bristol, Leeds, Manchester, Nottingham and Cambridge. The shows should elevate this record to new heights. 

Joshua Idehen: Bandcamp

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