There’s something quietly radical about an artist who chooses restraint in an age defined by excess. On his debut album Joya, Josi Costi steps away from the noise and distraction of modern production and instead embraces intimacy, warmth, and a raw experience. The result is a collection of songs that feel as lived-in as the Richmond home where they were recorded. It’s honest and brimming with the quiet confidence of a songwriter finally finding his voice.

In the spring of 2024, Costi transformed his sister’s house into a makeshift studio, recording ten songs live to tape with just a 4-track machine, a handful of trusted collaborators, and the occasional creak of floorboards or hum of the room. That decision to keep things analogue, to capture the music as it existed in the moment, gives Joya a richness that feels rare. Each track breathes, not in the sterility of digital recording, but in the subtle imperfections that make live performance so captivating. Legitimately, it feels like a live album that you’re sitting in the room to witness!

Though rooted in acoustic guitar and a stripped-back aesthetic, Joya never feels sparse. Tal Janes’ fluid guitar work, Ben Reed’s grounding bass, and the nuanced touches of Rod Oughton’s percussion create soundscapes that are spacious and textured. Viktor’s engineering keeps the focus firmly on Costi’s voice, while Brett Shaw’s mixing gives the album cohesion without sanding down its edges.

What elevates the album is the sheer expressiveness of Costi’s delivery. His vocals move between delicate vulnerability and steady strength, always tethered by an emotional core that makes the listener lean in. Lyrically, he writes with the instinct of someone pulling from a deep well of personal truth. We felt as though it’s quite reflective but never over the top, tender but unafraid to explore darker shades of feeling. The result is music that feels less like performance and more like conversation, a dialogue between artist and listener that deepens with each spin. Though the whole record is one big “standout”, our personal favorites were “The Speed of Stillness” and the closer, “Your Sweet Goat”.

With roots in jazz, world music, and electronic experimentation, Costi draws on a wide range of influences, but here he distills them into something distinctly that sort of goes the opposite direction. The record flows like a single journey, cohesive in tone and vision, as though made for long autumn walks or quiet nights with the windows open. It’s an album about atmosphere as much as it is about songwriting, and it succeeds in creating a world you’ll want to revisit. Primarily it’s acoustic in instrumentation, but it’s the production and those little subtleties that transform the whole sound.

In stripping away the excess, Josi Costi has crafted something timeless, heartfelt, and quietly luminous. This might be your intro to his music and we can’t imagine a better way to get a first impression. So please, click those links below to listen in and follow along!

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Josi Costi finds his voice in the intimate brilliance of album, "Joya"