Joshua Bassett, “Crisis” | Track Review

Though overshadowed by noise about everything else but music, the talented Joshua Bassett delivers on his honest single, “Crisis.”

“M

y label said to never have a crisis / And here I am, guitar in my hand, in the middle of one, hmm.”  Oh, the power of honesty and vulnerability! Joshua Bassett has been through ‘the ringer’ you might say – he gets ample negative press.  The thing is, the actor/singer is quite talented, yet, so much buzz centers around his past relationship with Olivia Rodrigo and, before coming out, speculation regarding sexuality.  Personally, I wish more people would appreciate his talent, something he exhibits undoubtedly on “Crisis”, the opener from his three-song Crisis / Secret / Set Me Free (EP).

“Crisis” was penned by Joshua Bassett, Derrick Southerland, and Mikey Reaves. Reaves also puts in the work behind the boards.  The sound is a tasty blend of folk-pop, singer/songwriter, and, well, standard pop.  In three minutes, Bassett allows himself to be vulnerable, revisiting a past relationship and break-up (likely Rodrigo).  From the start, he serves up beautiful, compelling, emotional, and honest vocals, clearly affected by the aftermath of the relationship and perceptions of others.  He doesn’t hold back on the pre-chorus, singing, “And if you get to tell your truth, then so do I / And it’s cool if you want me to play the bad guy.” Woo! Of course, the centerpiece is the chorus, where Bassett manages to slip in a timely s-bomb:

“But don’t you dare act like I didn’t love you
Don’t go thinkin’ that I didn’t hurt, too
Don’t you ever wonder if I’m okay after all you put me through
Half the shit you’re saying’s only half-true
Messin’ with my life as a career move
I can’t help but wonder why you won’t make it end
Guess you would never dare
You would never dare to waste a crisis.”

Again, I say, WOO!

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Final Thoughts  

Undoubtedly, there are most folks that are team Olivia Rodrigo and quick to bash Joshua Bassett.  Everyone is entitled to their opinions.  For me, I’m less interested in the pop culture side of things compared to the music.  Bassett delivers an enjoyable, honest, and well-rounded record on “Crisis” regardless how you feel about him or the situation.  Again, I’d believe folks should evaluate him more on his musical gifts than everything else.  That said, I’m older than both he and Olivia by a wide margin so…

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Joshua Bassett • Crisis / Secret / Set Me Free (EP) • Warner • 12.3.21
[: Brent Faulkner, The Musical Hype, OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay, Warner]

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