Album Review: Josh Rennie-Hynes Light/Shade
“I was falling in love when I was writing this album. I was probably partying way too much. I was looking at the life I’d created here in a foreign country away from all I’d known in Australia and questioning my boundaries and some of the people I’d surrounded myself with. This album helped me work through and process a lot of that.”
Josh Rennie-Hynes is Nashville-based artist who was born in Australia. Josh released his new album LIGHT/SHADE on October 27th, 2023, after spending fives years living in the States. As an artist, Josh continues to explore and push his boundaries, this time dipping his feet into the realm of electronic and alt-pop music.
Josh’s LIGHT/SHADE has strikingly fresh quality to it. The song featured in his album make you stop in your tracks and realise that this is not an artist who is afraid to lay everything on the table, evident by the themes of drastic change and growth that are explored over the sound of throbbing electronic instrumentals.
With the help of his producer and collaborator, Kyle Henderson, the album sees Josh Rennie-Hynes dive deeper into different sounds. Over the course of six months, where they worked rigorously each day to write and record the album, the duo have managed to create a collection of tracks that are powerful, accessible and yet deeply vulnerable. Some highlight tracks are ‘Morning Stars’, which shows Josh’s melodic prowess and romantic inclinations while paying homage to 90’s acts such as Dido, with angelic strings wafting throughout. An intensity and spark reminiscent of Post Malone is featured in ‘Head in the Clouds’, featuring a spoken verse by his lover of that time. ‘When we touch’ is a song that could’ve been played in Ryan Gosling’s ‘Drive’, showcasing a sensual and pulsating beat, and lyrics that question one’s choices in the later hours of the night. The selling and heavy-hitting track, ‘Fucking with my Head’, relates to something that we’ve all felt— being so lost in your thoughts that you can’t tell up from down. Ending the album off with the summary track, ‘Is it in the water’, which emanates with blissful sunshine and youthful love.
‘LIGHT/SHADE’ is a clear homage to the complexity of the human experience. We all experience dichotomy as human beings, and there’s a light and shade that we all contain within ourselves. Although this is his most bold and exploratory album to date, Josh clearly shows that he is willing to push beyond his defined norms and grow as an artist. His new album, ‘LIGHT'/SHADE’, sees him move into a new territory, both artistically and stylistically. Yet, at the core of all his songs, it’s still him. Josh is an artist that strives for authenticity and honesty, and that’s what defines his body of work.