Today, Joshua Burnside announces his new album, It’s Not Going to be Okay and shares his latest single and video, “Moon High,” an arresting and poignant cut from one of modern folk music’s essential artists.
This is a record born out of loss and the fragile act of continuing. Written and recorded in the wake of the death of Joshua’s closest friend, the album is his most stripped-back and unguarded work to date.
“I wrote and recorded this album after the death of my best friend Dean Jendoubi. He was an incredible person, and I miss him every day. He drifted unawares into the deepest sleep and died of a drug overdose on August 17th last year.
“Grief has always been a big part of my music; it’s the reason I started writing songs when I was 13. And so, as I did all those years ago, I reach for the guitar, try a few chords and sing a few words and for a brief moment I feel like it’s going to be okay.” Joshua Burnside
Discussing “Moon High”, Burnside explains, “When grief is just too big to process your mind has some tricks up its sleeve for self-preservation.” Not long after Dean had died, I started telling myself that I didn’t care about it at all, that I didn’t care about him, or anyone even, and that I was an unemotional rock that could handle anything thrown at me. So, I just kept myself busy and kept my head down and soldiered on as if nothing had happened. Of course, that could only last so long, but that was the only way I could deal with it at that particular time. I completely broke down whilst parked at the side of the road, something about the crescent moon, high up in the blue sky that afternoon made me feel sad and it all came out then.”
Burnside is routinely lauded for his intricate production and layered storytelling, but here, he pares everything down here to its rawest form. It’s Not Going to be Okay is tender and unflinching, highlighting the beautiful simplicity of Burnside’s acoustic balladry and his poetic lyrics. Where previous albums explored folklore, politics, and myth through surreal, tense textures and offbeat folk supplemented by electronica, It’s Not Going to be Okay distils his brilliance down with immaculate precision where each track serves like an entry into a grief journal.
Joshua Burnside is an experimental folk songwriter, singer and producer. He takes influence from alternative electronica trad, and Irish folk, chopping and blending them with a mixture of found sounds, world music and unorthodox production methods. He now begins a new phase and wraps up his East Coast US Tour and prepares a large UK and EU headline tour in 2026.
Tracklist:
You and Me
With You
Good Times
It’s Not Going to be Okay
Nicer Part of Town
Moon High
The Last Armchair
Something Else
Nighttime Person
Remake
It’s Not Going to be Okay Tour Dates:
Feb 7 – Letterkenny – Lasta Festival
Mar 21 – Manchester – Hallé St Peter’s
May 1 – Cork – Cyprus Avenue
May 2 – Dublin – Button Factory
May – Glasgow – Oran Mor
May 7 – Leeds – Brudenell Social Club
May 9 – Stroud – Prince Albert (2 shows 14:00 & 21:00)
May 10 – London – EartH Theatre
May 11 – Bristol – Beacon
June 17 – Falmouth – Cornish Bank
June 18 – Totnes – Barrel House
June 19 – Frome – The Tree House
June 20 – Milton Keynes – Craufurd Arms
June 21 – Beverley – Beverley Folk Festival
August 15 – Belfast – Custom House Square (Foy Vance show)
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