Josh Ritchie, the insightful, curious, inquisitive, and mega-talented rock star from rural Ontario, has released his soulful title track, “Love at the End of the World” LIVE from Old Bank Studios.
“I’m really excited to have a live version of this song out in the world,” Ritchie says of the soul-wrenching think-piece rife with heart-stopping wonderment, stripped down and beautifully performed. “The magic of it really is in the live performance of it. The band and I, we just get lost in the build and the drama of it. I can’t wait to share it with people.”
The sophomore release from Ritchie couldn’t have been better timed; the world is searching for an artist who lays it bare on the lyric sheet, and Ritchie’s no-nonsense approach to communicating the realness of today’s societal climate is a welcomed breath of fresh air.
“It really is a simple song but there’s so much room to let it take you to new places,” Ritchie muses. “The best thing about a live version of any song really is when you jam out on it – extend it out a little longer with pure improvisation. That’s when a song becomes a moment, a completely unique and independent passage of history and if you’re lucky enough to witness it, it’ll stay with you forever. That’s what we tried to do with this video, capture one of those moments.”
Ritchie’s quaint and elegant approach to songwriting is humbling. He’s an old soul with wisdom far beyond his youthful years — as heard across the song’s titular album, Love at the End of the World.
A born performer with a song on his heart, Ritchie’s electric guitar sees through the message he’s purported to write, and his words are the thoughts we’re each thinking but too abashed to share. The balance between Ritchie’s own introspective view on the world, knitted among the fiber of what needs to be said, is his magic: charisma, plus the ability to see a need and have the courage to remark on it.
“There is a lot at stake in this song,” he says of the good, old-fashioned power ballad about feeling exhausted by the harshness of the modern world. “We wanted to present it in a way that expressed those stakes and the rawness of the emotion.”
Ritchie’s music video for the song is an experience he feels lucky to have been a part of. “I was so lucky to be able to work with the amazing team at CTRE Productions. They are not only great at what they do but they’ve become dear friends to me and the band. When you really get along with the people you work with, the project is always a success, and I’m so grateful to have been able to collaborate.
“It was an interesting process making this video,” he continues. “We really wanted to capture a live experience, so there was literally no scripting or planning ahead of a take. We’d play the song live off the floor and the film team would shoot and make the edits in real-time as we played.”
With that, it’s time to take a trip with Josh Ritchie. He’s looking for “Love at the End of the World” and there’s room for one more to go find it.
