Josh Da Costa

Josh da Costa’s solo debut New Wave Graveyard came about during a period of transition. After a long time embedded in the 2010s New York indie scene, Josh da Costa moved to LA. For a while his house – a Craftsman shared with Geneva Jacuzzi, Shags Chamberlain, Daryl Johns and James Ferraro – was a “paradise for freaks and friends” but things took a turn when it was set alight by an arsonist. Then the pandemic started.

Josh decided to revisit music from his adolescence and “get deep into some of the gear I’d had lying around for years but overlooked.” Over several years, working entirely solo and playing every instrument himself between gigs drumming for Drugdealer, MGMT and Jessica Pratt, Josh da Costa dreamed up the world of New Wave Graveyard. Its title is a reference to both the old burned-down Craftsman, still vacant, and a vibe, an elegy to forgotten fantasies and faded memories.

Da Costa imagined New Wave Graveyard as a “greatest hits from a parallel universe, classic songs from an alternate reality.” He says, “Instead of trying to home in on one specific vibe or sound, I went through my own taste and record collection and tried out different approaches – as if I were more than just one artist.” The album is a gorgeous soup of references, from shoegaze and synthpop to new wave and baggy – with one eye on the past and another firmly on the future.

Nothing lasts forever, but New Wave Graveyard bottles the feeling of being there, where the magic happened – even if that place is entirely imagined.