Joey Dosik didn’t set out to make a conceptual mini album about
basketball. It was his first love before music and some of his earliest
memories are of attending Lakers games but he’d never thought to
look to the sport for inspiration. However, when Joey blew out his
knee during his regular pick-up game and had to undergo
reconstructive ACL surgery, he found himself confined to the couch,
watching a lot of television and waiting to resume his normal life. He
gravitated toward basketball and when he started recording again he
found it seeping into his writing. The result is ‘Game Winner’, a brisk,
emotive collection of songs loosely inspired by the language and lore
of the game. ? Joey is an inveterate collaborator who has worked extensively with
the likes of Vulfpeck, Nikka Costa and Miguel Atwood Ferguson and
who is a vital part of an LA scene that updates vintage sounds into a
more contemporary context. ‘Game Winner’ was a different project
with a different process; the lion’s share of the release was recorded
solo in Joey’s home studio. ? The common thread in the six songs – as well as the four bonus
tracks – is musicality and song craft: the two pillars of Joey’s sound.
“The most important thing is the song,” explains Joey. “Songwriting
won’t go out of style.” It’s that approach, one that thinks beyond
style, that gives the title track its magic. Minimal and almost languid,
‘Game Winner’ has a confidence that’s hard to place in time, an ease
that meets a buzzer-beater just as well as it meets a Sunday
morning. Basketball may have been Joey’s first love but the sport is
also the perfect metaphor for where he’s ended up musically, always
striving to stay timely and timeless, to bring deep, foundational
elements in sync with innovation and imagination. ‘Game Winner’ was originally released in 2016; this re-release
features bonus tracks.