While we have been listening to Scottish singer Joesef on Spotifiy these past few months, he has just dropped his first official music video. “The Sun Is Up Forever” is an ethereal visual accompaniment to the singer’s dreamy world of jangling guitars and soaring vocals.
Filmed entirely in isolation, footage used in the music video was crowdsourced via collaborative platform Daisie (co-founded by actress Maisie Williams) with the aim to connect and unify people amidst the current period of separation. Joesef requested users submit clips of their sunrises or sunsets, stating in the video’s introduction, “I always took comfort in the fact that, although our surroundings may be different, we are all kind of looking up at the same thing.” Edited together with a retro filter, the final film resembles an old VHS tape, fitting perfectly with the song’s message of moving on from the past.
Submissions came from creatives across the globe with a vast spectrum of different ideas came together to create the video. One contributor, Georgi Ward sums it up perfectly “I think this video will show how we are all going through the same thing right now and how looking for and appreciating the beauty in everyday moments can help us get through it” whilst co-founder & CEO of Daisie, Dom Santry goes on to explain “It’s very special to see people overcome boundaries to come together and create, amidst such challenging times. The film possesses a timeless simplicity.”
The song itself holds so much weight for Joesef, who wrote, produced and recorded the new single. Speaking about the lyrics Joesef explains, “I wrote this song after talking to my mum about how relationships affect you in every corner of your life, right down to the way you carry yourself. My dad was a bit of a bastard to her and us, and she said it’s something that never really leaves her, but after 20 years she’s learned to let go of the grief a little. It’s from her perspective, and mine. It’s about leaving a dark part of your life behind you. This tune is for her.”
Joesef’s work in the last year culminated in his inclusion of the BBC Sound Poll in January, after sharing his soulful, sultry sounds with singles ‘Don’t Give In’, ‘Loverboy’, ‘Limbo’ and debut EP Play Me Something Nice. The EP navigates feelings of first love and loss or, as Joesef puts it, the breakdown of his first relationship, “and how complicated it became for both of us trying to navigate through life without each other.