Music releases

Released

Friday, June 7, 2024

Where To Buy

Beatox

Been a Long Time, the artist delivers grooves galore, distilling his hip-hop, soul, funk, and jazz influences into an infectiously laidback record. Using his voice as a multi-layered instrument, Beatox showcases his ability to turn unusual sounds into soothing beats, weaving his dynamic beatboxing, clever lyricism, and introspective storytelling with lush, chilled-out production. 

The 12-track record was written during the pandemic to fill the void of isolation and a brutal winter in Winnipeg. It’s an album that aims for connection, journeying through the loneliest lows to euphoric highs of endless possibilities. Beatox offers a lighthearted meditation on fighting to find happiness when the world goes sideways with title track “Been a Long Time,” seeks a simulation for the outside world through social media with the breezy earworm, “Beep Beep,” and figures out how to embrace life again on the joyful synthetic funk track, “Learning How to Live.” 

Despite starting from a place of desolation, the album radiates with hope and good humour, serving up encouraging mantras (“Never Hold Back”), dancefloor catharsis (“Dance”) and ruminations about a future with life-altering new technologies (“Wait ‘Til The Sun Goes Down”), all while illuminating the restorative power of music and connection. 

“The album is a snapshot of the past few years of my life, trying to return to society, and find happiness and fulfilment again after being so cut off,” says Beatox. “It’s also a call to action for people to reconnect, find others that push them to be their best selves, and take a leap towards achieving whatever makes them happy. As a fairly nomadic person, I’ve had to learn how to build community quickly, and have learned the importance of surrounding myself around the right people to create a healthy environment. This album is a reflection of that process and aims to inspire others to dig deep within themselves, take risks, and find the spark that keeps them moving towards a meaningful life.”