Swedish producer and multi-instrumentalist, sir Was – a moniker for Joel Wästberg – is today sharing his new single, "Waiting For The Weekend" which arrives in tandem with details of his third record, Let The Morning Come, out via Memphis Industries on October 15, 2021.
2020 was supposed to be Wästberg’s big year. Still riding high from the release of his second album as sir Was –2019’s Holding On To A Dream – the Swedish multi-instrumentalist was booked to open for Little Dragon across Europe and the US. When the tour was cancelled due to COVID, he decided to channel all his energies into writing new music instead, but in August of 2020, he received some life-changing news. Tests revealed he carried the gene for a rare, hereditary condition causing multiple strokes.
“At first I got very sad and scared,” says Joel of the devastating diagnosis. “But at the same time, it was like all the other worries I carried suddenly didn't matter. I just got this very intense feeling of being alive.”
This dichotomy lies at the heart of his beautifully bittersweet third LP. Meditating on love, growth, self-acceptance, forgiveness, mortality and the passing of time, Let The Morning Come, which arrives self-produced by Joel, contains his most candid writing to date. And yet, for all the heartache that comes with being cruelly confronted with one’s own mortality, the prevailing impression Wästberg leaves listeners with is one of hope, resulting in a collection that is life-affirming in the very truest sense.
This first single, "Waiting For The Weekend" nods towards an album that marks the latest step in his evolution as an artist renowned for conjuring dreamy hooks and unconventional arrangements. Sonically it marries complex melodies with Joel's soaring falsetto, butter-smooth grooves and gentle funk-indebted electronica. With the new album and this first single, Wästberg sought to “condense” his songwriting, with the aim of evoking the immediacy of the music of his youth. Lyrically too, time is of the essence, as evidenced by the title, "Waiting For The Weekend." This palpable sense of a race against time is heightened by the fact he suffered a stroke in January of this year when the album was “99% complete.” Now thankfully recovered, the experience has only strengthened his resolve to grasp every possible opportunity and to live life authentically and without fear, ideas that ultimately permeate the album.
sir Was, praised initially by Stones Throw Records founder, Peanut Butter Wolf, has received support around the world with multiple playlists on BBC 6 Music, plays on BBC Radio 1, KCRW, Radio Nova, Radio Eins and more. Alongside this, he has performed and collaborated with Little Dragon, Efterklang’s Clasper Clausen, Falle Nioke (on the recent collaborative Marasi EP) and Junip as well as performing at Eurosonic, Mad Cool and Benicassim Festivals.
