Josh Gilligan Finds Light in ‘Party of One’
INTERVIEW
INTERVIEW
☆ BY KIARA ALMANZAR ☆
Photo By Emory Brown
JOSH GILLIGAN'S PARTY OF ONE ISN'T JUST AN ALBUM ABOUT LONELINESS – it's a quiet reckoning with change, resilience, and the weight of moving forward. Josh Gilligan’s latest album offers a deeply personal exploration of isolation, self-reflection, and transformation. With a stripped-down production style that leans toward acoustic simplicity, Gilligan allows his vocals and lyricism to take center stage. The album is intimate, inviting listeners into a space that feels both familiar and deeply introspective and offering a comforting rhythm perfect for swaying to on a quiet kitchen floor.
Gilligan explained how he balanced the contrasting emotions within the album. He emphasized his humorous coping mechanism and his naturally lighthearted personality, saying "I think when you're being yourself, it's impossible for you to be anything else." He didn't want to create something "overly sad," aiming for authenticity above all else. He spoke about the need to be honest without leaning too far into despair, keeping a more lighthearted approach to his lyricism.
In conversation about the album’s creation, Gilligan shared how his own experiences shaped the project. The writing process unfolded over a period of personal stagnation and rather than forcing himself to push through it, he allowed the emotions to settle naturally into his music. Releasing the album, he then explained, felt like "a way to push that boat away and give myself even more permission to just step up a little bit in those things that have been bringing me down or let them go." It’s a reflection of his approach—never dramatizing for the sake of effect, but instead, letting the truth of his experiences resonate as they are.
Photo by Emory Brown
Gilligan’s favorites—artists like Paul Simon, James Taylor, and Tracy Chapman—are evident not in direct imitation but in his approach to songwriting. He admires their ability to express complex emotions through simplicity, to write without artifice or excessive metaphor. That honesty carries through Party of One, where even the most melancholic moments feel grounded and real.
The album came into focus after Gilligan scrapped an earlier project that no longer felt authentic. That abandoned collection, though sonically polished, lacked the intimacy and connection he sought. Party of One, in contrast, feels like an artist stripping everything away until only the essential remains. Some tracks feature a full band, others are just Gilligan and his guitar, but all share the same careful intention.
The opening track, “Anything,” sets the tone for the album with its quiet intensity—a song that feels both raw and intentional, much like Gilligan’s ability to walk the line between vulnerability and resilience. It’s an anthem for showing up, for stepping into the unknown despite the weight of doubt and exhaustion. At its core, “Anything” is about the courage it takes to keep going, to continue trying, even when the world feels heavy. Lyrically, the song captures that universal moment of hesitation—the kind that comes when you’re staring out a window, caught in a pause that feels like it could stretch forever. “Its hands are on the steering wheel / But mine are on your heart,” Gilligan sings, acknowledging the push and pull of life’s circumstances versus our own willpower. In Gilligan’s hands, the struggle isn’t something to shy away from but rather something to honor.
Within this intimate soundscape, the track "Tightrope" emerges as a powerful representation of the album's overall atmosphere. With its measured lyricism and introspective tone, the track captures that pivotal moment when holding on tight no longer feels as safe as letting go. Gilligan paints this transformation with a gentle, unguarded honesty, allowing each verse to unfold like a quiet revelation. “Now I know I’ve taken my time / Walking the tightrope just to cut the line,” he sings, the imagery evoking the tension between caution and the exhilarating unknown. There’s a weight to every step, a quiet reckoning in every lyric, yet as the song swells, the act of stepping off the ledge feels less like a loss and more like a necessary surrender.
These words capture the essence of Party of One: a willingness to let go of the familiar, even if it means embracing the uncertainty of a "free fall." It's about rolling the dice on a new perspective, adjusting the rear view mirror, and finding liberation in the unknown.
Beyond “Tightrope,” the rest of Party of One offers a collection of intimate perspectives, each track adding new depth to Gilligan’s exploration of self-discovery, doubt, and resilience. The album is quiet yet intentional—comfortable in its own skin but not afraid to tug at the heart. Every song unfolds like a late-night conversation, revealing different facets of what it means to keep moving forward, even when the path is uncertain.
“Free” is an unexpected, jazzy instrumental interlude that feels like a deep breath in the middle of the album. Written by Chris Peranich, “Free” was recorded live as Peranich taught it to the band, capturing a raw, in-the-moment energy that makes it feel spontaneous and alive. Its presence on the record serves as a reflective turning point—one that invites listeners to pause, reset, and take in the journey.
In the second half of the album, “Turn the Lights Back On” serves as a subtly uplifting track as it radiates a quiet determination to push forward, even when the way isn’t clear. The lyrics—“I don’t wanna just get through it / I want it to feel good if I do it”—sum up the song’s core sentiment: a refusal to let life slip by in survival mode. There’s hope in its melody, a sense that even in the darkest moments, the light switch is still within reach. On the other end of the spectrum, “500 Questions” is a burst of energy that leans into Gilligan’s sharpest anxieties of those unrelenting questions that make moving on feel impossible, capturing the claustrophobic spiral of overthinking.
Photo By Emory Brown
“Party of One” feels like the emotional core of the record. It blends his past and present musical influences, staying deeply authentic to his production style while carrying the album’s most poignant themes of solitude and connection. “A party of one just isn’t that fun,” he admits in the chorus, a deceptively simple line that carries the weight of growing pains, changing relationships, and the realization that independence can never replace the depth of true community.
The closing track, "Everything," stands out as a love letter, not just to one person but to all those who shape our lives in ways we don’t always acknowledge in the moment. Gilligan revealed that it's a love letter to his mother, and ultimately, to all the important people in our lives. It's a reminder to express our love and gratitude in real time, not taking them for granted.
With Party of One, Gilligan crafts a record that feels deeply personal yet widely resonant. It doesn’t shy away from loneliness or uncertainty but instead finds meaning in them, offering a quiet kind of comfort to anyone navigating their own version of the same journey.For Gilligan, it marks both an ending and a beginning. He sees it as the closing of a chapter, a clearing of space for whatever comes next. The process of writing and producing the album taught him valuable lessons about authenticity and self-expression, lessons he hopes to carry into future projects. More than anything, he wants this collection of songs to serve as a companion for listeners—to be something they return to in quiet moments, a soundtrack for reflection and growth. "Solitude is cool, but we need people," he says. It’s a sentiment that lingers long after the album’s final notes fade away.
