Joshua Bassett, the High School Musical: The Musical: The Series actor, just dropped his self-titled debut EP. It includes 6 pop songs.
Celebrating the EP Release After Months of Drama
“I’m feeling really good,” Joshua during an interview with ET. “We’ve had this EP ready to go. It was supposed to release six months ago, so now that it’s finally [come] out, I’m like, ‘All right!’ And plus, I wrote it over the last two years. So to finally get it off my chest, I’m excited and I can’t wait for people to hear it.”
The EP comes just months after the love triangle drama between him, Olivia Rodrigo, and Sabrina Carpenter unfolded. With people speculating that the songs were about his breakup with Olivia, he commented, “I think the songs speak for themselves. That’s really the truth,” he says. “It’s funny for me to see people speculate or make theories about things. I don’t see a lot of it, but what I see, I’m like, ‘Where are you getting this from?’ It’s so funny how people piece it together. But I get it. We’re all in quarantine. Everybody’s got nothing to do, so everyone’s trying to make more meaning out of something than there is.”
Joshua first teased the EP with the lead single ‘Lie Lie Lie’ back in January. “I wrote ‘Lie Lie Lie’ after I found out a friend had been lying about me behind my back for a long time. It always sucks to hear that someone you thought you could trust would throw you under the bus when it benefits them. It happens to all of us, and I think all you can do is seek out people that build you up rather than tear you down.”
Working With Top Producers
With his debut EP, on which he plays five instruments, Bassett co-produces with Jake Gosling (Ed Sheeran, Shawn Mendes), Afterhrs (Maroon 5, One Direction), and Dallas Caton, jumping in to offer notes on everything “from the sound of the snare to the arrangements” themselves. “If you would have told me that when I was 15, I wouldn’t have believed you,” he said to the American Songwriter.
While the EP was going to include a highly anticipated duo with Sabrina Carpenter herself, it was removed from the tracklist. Joshua attributes the “mutual decision” to the rumors of him having a relationship with Sabrina. “I didn’t want my EP to be overshadowed by some other narrative that people were trying to make,” he told Billboard. “I really want the focus to be on the art instead of some of the talk and the chatter. You shouldn’t live to please everybody, but at the same time, there are ways to be sensitive to situations where maybe [‘We Both Know’] has a better chance at a different time.”
A month after ‘Lie Lie Lie’ came out, he released ‘Only a Matter of Time;’ which had a very different vibe. In the slow-paced ballad, Joshua talks about feeling betrayed. “I wrote this song in the summer of 2020; in a moment in time where social media was bringing a lot of darkness to my life. It was healing to put my phone down, turn off the noise and just write. There’s good that comes from social media, but it’s also become a place where people can say anything about anyone, no matter how false or damaging with no accountability. We’ve gotta be much kinder to each other and recognize there are real people behind the screens!”
Joshua Just Dropped a Brand New Music Video
Finally, ‘Telling Myself’ comes as the third single off the EP; which music video released the same night as the EP. It’s one of the most upbeat songs on the EP and will make you want to dance. Joshua shared via BuzzFeed, “‘Telling Myself’” was a song I wrote roughly two years ago at this point. That one was about when you get out of a relationship, and you’re sort of looking back on it, and you’re like, was this really what we thought it was? Is it just that we’re telling ourselves that this was good when it was really not good? It’s more reflective, and less about betrayal.”
If you’re into pop, make sure to give Joshua’s debut EP a listen! You won’t want to miss out.
