The Tartan

By Savannah Milam

This summer, I worked as a camp counselor. One of the ways I bonded with one of my fellow counselors was through our love of Joshua Bassett, specifically the way his lyrics have connected with us and helped us through difficult times. So needless to say, when I found out Joshua’s debut album “The Golden Years” would be coming out on July 26, my co-counselor and I made a plan to listen to the entire album together as we swept and mopped the rec room, and wow, was this album worth the wait. 

“The Golden Years” follows Joshua’s experiences growing up to where he is now. As he put on his Instagram account, the album “encapsulates the bitter-sweet nostalgia of my late teens and early twenties, my debut album is a love letter to ‘the golden years’ of my life thus far… this body of work spans the hope and heartbreak of my transition into adulthood.” 

All of the songs on the album were written by Joshua Bassett, with some co-written by Tommy English and Jeremy Hatcher. 

“Biting My Tongue”

This song begins with a classic Joshua Bassett guitar riff. It never ceases to amaze me how he can come up with such unique and melodic fingerpicking styles. From the second this track began, I was absolutely entranced. “Biting My Tongue” is about not being able to say the things you need or want to for fear of hurting someone else. I know for sure that I have been in this situation, and this song is just a beautiful representation of this feeling. 

“The Golden Years”

The title track of the album, “The Golden Years”, captures the overall feeling of being in the “best years of your life,” when life is feeling beautiful and you’re grateful. This track feels very mellow (in the best way) with a melody that brings you in from the first lyric. 

“Dancing With Tears In My Eyes”

This next song has a very groovy disco feel to it. Joshua even sings in a high octave, which feels very reminiscent of classic disco music. This song is all about how sometimes you can seem like you’re happy and doing fine on the outside, even having a good time, but there’s tears in your eyes. Deep down, you’re not necessarily doing okay. 

“Don’t Let Me Down”

This song begins with a simple piano accompaniment, which makes the tone very soft and bittersweet. After the first part of the first verse, singer Jenna Raine comes in which was a surprise when I first heard it. None of Joshua’s other recorded songs have been duets with another artist, so this was a nice treat. They harmonize together in the chorus which is very pleasing. Both of their voices combine in such a beautiful way. This song is mainly about contemplating getting back into a relationship with someone and the fear of them letting you down and hurting you again. 

“Cherry Blossom”

“Cherry Blossom” opens with a fun, upbeat, plucky guitar riff. This song is more upbeat than some of the others on the album, but still maintains that laid-back vibe. I don’t know why, but it reminded me somewhat of classic 1960s music like The Beach Boys. This song is about the beginning phase of a relationship — what it’s like to be in the “honeymoon phase” and wondering if it’s just for a season or for longer. 

“Circles”

“Circles” begins with a nice drum beat and then the guitar comes in with a “backwards” strum (starting at the high E string versus the low E string). This song then mainly contains keys and drums with some guitar which continues with the laid-back vibe and adds a slightly Western feel. Then Joshua’s vocals jump up an octave on the chorus. This song is about having feelings for someone who reels you in only to keep you at a distance — feeling like you’re chasing someone around and wasting time on someone who doesn’t really want you, just your attention. 

“Wildfire”

The beginning of this song is mainly just the vocals with some light keys as accompaniment. The focus is on the lyrics and as the pre-chorus comes in, the music begins to build slightly. This song is just overall really beautiful. It’s about being in a relationship that seems okay, but is actually not good for you. 

“Little Rita”

Joshua Bassett originally wrote this song for his friend Rita who called him to tell him that her childhood house was on fire. Joshua wrote this to comfort her; she and her family convinced him to add it to the album. This song, while dealing with themes of loss, is very plucky and fun. It begins with an upbeat, plucky baseline with some additional guitar strumming which adds to the fun vibe of the song. Interwoven throughout the song are recordings from childhood home videos, which were a nice touch. This song is very comforting (at least for me) when I’m going through something. The main hook is “everything will be alright,” which is a helpful reminder for everyone. 

“Would Ya Tell Me”

This song is very much a stream of consciousness, just pondering the question of wondering if someone you’re in love with is in love with someone else. The main line is “What if you’re still in love with someone else / would you tell me?” This is then inverted in the last line of the song “I don’t wanna know.” This song is really upbeat and has more of a rock feel when it comes to the instrumentation which just makes this a fun addition to the album. I feel like the fear of being with someone who’s still in love with someone else is a fear that a lot of people can relate to and Joshua really captures that feeling well in this song. 

“Mirror”

Now, “Mirror” is probably my favorite song on the album (although that switches daily). This song deals with feeling down and depressed and not being able to recognize yourself in the mirror. Even looking at a photograph of yourself as a kid and you just don’t recognize that face anymore. This song is definitely on the calmer side, but the melody is absolutely gorgeous. The chorus just feels so full and heartfelt, it gives me chills every time I listen to it. 

“Look How Far You’ve Come”

“Look How Far You’ve Come” is probably my other favorite song of the album. This is the perfect song to end this coming-of-age album with. The title pretty much says it all. This song is just about recognizing how far you’ve come from where you may have been a few years ago, and the growth that happens as you learn to navigate adulthood and go through difficult things. What’s really cool about this song is that the vocals are doubled with the version Joshua recorded four years ago when he first wrote the song and with the vocals he recorded a few months ago when he re-recorded it for the album. In a way, you can literally hear how far he’s come since he first wrote the song. Also, as a guitarist, I have to comment on how beautiful the strumming on this song is. It’s relatively simple, but conveys the bittersweet feeling of the lyrics so well. My favorite line is “when you can’t seem to get back up, / just look how far you’ve come.” This song is really beautiful and was the perfect conclusion to an incredible debut album. 

When you go listen to this album (and you should, if I haven’t already made that clear), I highly recommend listening to the songs in order. In an interview with Zach Sang, Joshua said that he arranged the order of the songs sonically, but then realized that the order tells a story. Honestly, up until I heard that interview, I thought he intentionally arranged them in this order to tell the story. So please, PLEASE, give this album a listen. I can guarantee that you won’t regret it.