Joshua Novak
Denver, Colorado, United States | SELF
Music
Press
"Ephemeron is an album that needs to be heard to be realized. Sometimes one listen is all it takes to ensue the proverbial ball-rolling and subsequent Novak revolution. A decade ago, records like this were beloved, celebrated and remembered. The faint idea that Ephemeron will just be lost along the masses is difficult to bear."
-Gregory Robson, ABSOLUTE PUNK - -Gregory Robson
"Joshua Novak could probably be called a “singer-songwriter” in a technical sense, but so were Jeff Buckley and Nick Drake. While it would be premature to compare Novak to either, like those dead heroes, his songs don’t, for a moment, recall the awkward musical gropings heard in coffee shops or at open mike nights. A lot of people want to be their heroes, but Joshua Novak is just trying to be himself. His rhythm section was so spot on, it allowed him to launch into flights of emotional and musical exuberance. At times, with his gritty intensity, he recalled early PJ Harvey, at others he evoked Jackson Browne, if only Browne wasn't so lame and a lot more spooky. Novak’s voice sounded fantastic. More impressive, though, is the fact that he seems keenly aware that no matter how great your voice happens to be, if the music going along with it isn’t at least as commanding and interesting, the songs fall flat." -Tom Murphy, WESTWORD
- -Tom Murphy
Joshua Novak is a threat to the throne of pop geniuses like John Lennon.
- The Denver Thread - -Billy Thieme
Novak is one hell of a songwriter, but he’s vastly more intriguing than a mere singer-songwriter with a guitar and a stool. Plenty of Novak fans around Denver have dropped Bowie and Bolan references when describing him over the years, and such showmanship and range is readily apparent on Ephemeron. With Ephemeron, Joshua Novak has made a stunner of an album that is mesmerizing on first listen, and its pleasures grow more iridescent with each listen. It may be an under-the-radar release right now, but fans of acclaimed acts as diverse as James Blake, Thom Yorke, The Postal Service, Josh Rouse and Jim James, among others, should have every reason to discover the music of Joshua Novak.
- The Silver Tongue - -Justin Wesley
"Joshua Novak...is distinguished by an ability to balance streetwise rock aggression with radio-smart hooks." - -Larry Flick
"His emotionally charged rock songs don't duplicate; they create." - -Valerie Singleton
"Even Better than the visuals was the music. Hypnotic, raw yet energetic rock n' roll. This band was solid, they were cool and they looked like rock stars." - -Jennifer Layton
"...Singing of betrayal and bitterness with an overflowing beauty, the wave of vocals and guitar weaving off the stage or speakers." - -Kim Owens
Discography
The 5 Day Romance EP
Dead Letters LP
Informaniac (single)
Ephemeron LP
Photos
Bio
Acclaimed Denver musician Joshua Novak burst onto the music scene in early 2000—young, carefree and seemingly touched with effortless pop magic. Since then, he has become a celebrated fixture of the scene.
Recently, he placed in the top 20 out of 560 bands in the Denver Post’s Best of the Underground and received his seventh Westword Showcase nomination. Joshua is one of fifteen winners in the ModMusic Records Indie Band Search in New York, and has played Red Rocks Amphitheater as part of the epic Monolith Festival, which included acts like TV on the Radio, Vampire Weekend, The Kills, Justice and others.
Joshua proudly released his most complete and daring record to date, Ephemeron, on February 26, 2013. This is the follow-up to Novak’s Dead Letters, which was ranked among Westword and The Denver Post’s Best Albums of 2010.
For Joshua, Ephemeron is a means of moving forward by dealing head-on with what he calls “a crippling nostalgia” for the past.
“I dwell and reminisce and eulogize even the most trivial of things,” he says. “It seems as if nothing from my childhood is relevant anymore, and, of course, that also includes adult things like friendships, getting older and wondering what I’m doing with my life. Sometimes I wonder whether these seemingly harmless nostalgia trips are keeping me stuck somehow. I don’t know much, but I do know that, at 32, I can’t be stuck. It’s intrinsic to the DNA code of the artist to take risks and jump without looking.”
Joshua is a self-taught artist who is influenced as much by Kate Bush and David Bowie as by Scott Walker and The London Suede. With Ephemeron, he confronts the ephemeral nature of jobs, lovers, youth and health with music that is less organic and more futuristic than the band-driven, Brit-pop sparkle of Dead Letters. The album includes performances by Tyler Rima (A&M’s Churchill) and Kit Peltzel (Snake Rattle Rattle Snake, Space Team Electra). It was produced by Joshua and recorded at Mighty Fine Productions by Colin Bricker (DeVotchKa) and Xandy Whitesel (Bon Iver).
Joshua has shared the stage with the likes of Liam Finn, Elf Power, Brendan Benson, Evan Dando, Wovenhand, Azure Ray, The Mountain Goats, The Fruit Bats, The Veils, Turin Brakes, and others, and played Denver’s best venues including The Gothic, The Bluebird, Hi-Dive, Larimer Lounge, The Oriental Theater, The Walnut Room and even at the famous club The Bitter End in New York City.
Links
