“Ash in the Air and Beats That Hit: Inside Joshua Pearlstein’s ‘Wanna Dance’”

There's a specific type of evening where everything feels as if it has been dipped into a wet blanket. An ice-cold glass of beer sits on the table, concrete beneath your feet, and music is seeping through the walls as though it would like to be somewhere else entirely. This is where Joshua Pearlstein seems to be existing at this time in his life—on the cusp of a release.

Joshua is a 21-year-old Atlanta-born (but now lives near Bar Harbor) and Berklee trained artist who is not looking for something polished as he is for impact. Sonically influenced by the movie-making style of Michael Jackson and Prince, with a contemporary twist from The Weeknd and Lady Gaga, Joshua creates music that does not just sit there; it moves, it vibrates, it comes alive.

Then you have "Wanna Dance." This is his ninth single; however, it doesn't feel like it. It feels like something that is breaking through. It was written in one session without sleep, the energy of the song has an extreme sense of urgency that you cannot fabricate; there is no overthinking, no safety net to fall back upon; it is all instinct, cutting right through the chaos around him.

What came out of it was just something very raw. It had a mechanical sound but still sounded human. Also, the tension within the music was very strong as the ash from a burned structure will float in the air above the site of that loss, as long as there is no one in the space to collect up the ash. And the music draws one in, because of the quality of the rhythm and the hook, as well as how the two different styles of music interrelate to your memory as to why music was ever created in the first place (before you listen to the music).

Therefore, Pearlstein would say that when the music “gets released,” it simply means that the music is out there to be listened to. He would not use any phrase like “rollout” or “strategy”; he would say, “the music is out there,” and he does not worry about how that may not line up in an industry full of people looking at numbers; he makes a point to talk about how, even though there are many "number" list events associated with his music, the most important thing is how an individual feels about the song.

This song “Wanna Dance” is not asking for validation; it is inviting you to become involved.

It is: No "watch me", no "stream this".

It is only: "Come closer. Move. Forget the pressure."

Joshua Pearlstein is making a much bolder statement, in a time when the majority of music artists are struggling to fit into the algorithmic world of music creation, by simply letting go. This is the single most impactful reason why anyone would want to listen to his music.