Josh Hight is a former member of post-punk band The Detachment Kit until the mid-2000s when the group relocated to Brooklyn. He operated for a time as a solo artist under the moniker Irons before relocating to the UK and immersing himself in the world of photography, film and soundtracks. The later came about in part after Hight met Richard Norris at a Stone Club event in London. Norris is perhaps best known for his production work with the likes of Psychic TV, Marc Almond, Sun Ra, Robert Fripp and Joe Strummer but also as a member of influential electronic dance group The Grid. In 2025 Hight released his debut EP from his new solo project PINES with In His Wake, produced by Norris. The record as the name perhaps hints at is a product of grief, disillusionment and the soul searching that happens subsequent to hitting life’s low points. But the music that has come about is made up of gorgeously melodic atmospheres and poignant expressions of loss, the dull reality of much of adult existence and its relative lack of inspiration and leaps of discovery, melancholic reflections on past relationships and a yearning for the collapse of the current mode of human civilization and its capture by oligarchic monetization through digital channels and a more transcendent and vital future once that dissolution is well under way. Musically it’s like a cosmic slowcore, pastoral shoegaze form of psychedelic pop that at times is reminiscent of Hawkwind’s more accessible moments and shades of The Zombies. With guest musicians like Andy Bell (Ride, Oasis), Emmett Kelly (Bonnie “Prince” Billy, The Cairo Gang) and Dottie Cochran (Deary) it’s a richly emotional experience and one that seems more complete than EP often does.
Listen to our interview with Josh Hight on Bandcamp and follow PINES on Instagram.
Queen City Sounds and Art 
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