Interview: Spell Token

Hartlepool’s Spell Token (aka Josh Ingledew) drops cool, his latest single and the second single taken from his upcoming EP entitled Seasons. The track is four minutes of power pop loveliness that takes you on a musical journey through a scintillating sonic wonderland filled with melodious vocals, enchanting synth sounds and elevating instrumentation.

We chat with the talented songwriter to find out more…

You describe yourself as having a baroque pop sound. What does that mean?
Baroque pop is pop music that uses orchestral instruments. I’ve never been one for limiting my sonic palette and I love using loads of different instruments to paint a picture or create a certain emotion, sometimes I use violin, flute and harp to achieve sounds that move me and hopefully others. I often find myself influenced by film scores which I think is why I always want to add that orchestral flavour to my productions.

Briefly describe your songwriting process. 
I start by recording rough voice memos on my phone, then I spend a lot of time at my computer adding new sounds and arranging all of the sections until it resembles a song. I work alone and it usually takes a few months of crippling self doubt and patience until the production is right.

Tell us more about Cool. What is it about?
cool is about entering your 20s and no longer rating things on their coolness. In the song I’m reflecting on my teenage years, how much I used to worry about what people thought, and how much of my personality I hid during that time. I think that trying to impress people is a huge waste of time. It’s important to embrace your true self, even if you’re an absolute dork like me.

cool is the second single taken from your upcoming EP, Seasons. What can we expect from the EP?
The Seasons EP is a project that I’ve been working on for a really long time, thematically the songs all share this theme of personal growth. Similarly I think the process of making it allowed me to explore my sound and grow as an artist. The title track starts with a musical motif that appears in the rest of the EP, connecting them all together.

Anything else in the pipeline that you can tell us about?
At the moment I’m writing loads of brand new songs that have been really fun and easy to make so far. All of the songs I’m writing are really short and compact, but packed with all the characteristic sounds from previous releases.