Before You Go

Love doesn’t exist in isolation—it lingers, shifts, and resurfaces in ways we don’t always expect. That idea is at the heart of Before You Go, Brandon’s full-length debut, out May 9, 2025, on Secretly Canadian. A boundless collection of soul and R&B-infused alternative-pop guitar songs, the album explores the blurred lines between past and present, heartbreak and healing. It’s also a tender call for open-heartedness, active listening, and stepping beyond expectations.

The 27-year-old singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist, born Brandon Joseph to Trinidadian parents in Riverside, California, grew up in a family of musicians and all around music lovers. His mom, a singer, inspired him at a young age to sing himself, joining the kids choir at his local church at the age of 7. From there, his love for music grew and became the epicenter of his life. “My mom really loves Sade and Tracy Chapman. I think those were the first real names I remember when I think about the music my mom loved talking about or listening to when I was little. They were always in the conversation.”

It was the discovery of the guitar that unlocked something new. As a left-handed guitarist with few instruments built for him, Brandon originally adapted by flipping, and later re-stringing right-handed models, reshaping his entire approach to playing. That challenge pushed him to rethink technique, structure, and sound—ultimately influencing his songwriting. His music, much like his playing, is instinctive, deeply personal, and led by feeling first.

Brandon also developed a deep appreciation for the album as an immortal format that commands devotion and care. “It’s hard for me to listen to music passively,” he explains. Contrary to the ephemeral fashions of streaming, the singer prefers a more holistic approach. “I really love the process of picking a vinyl record from my collection and putting it on. It feels like a ritual that I practice on an almost daily basis. Getting up, thinking about what I want to play at that moment, finding it on the shelf, taking it out of the sleeve, putting it on the platter, and dropping the needle… then flipping it. It allows me to be a lot more intentional with what I’m listening to. It really brings me joy.” He adds, “We used to be so limited with what we could play because of whatever CD or record you’re buying at your local record store. You bought those records because you love that artist, or maybe because it had cool cover art, and now with our phones we have everything at the tip of our fingers. Both a good and bad thing because we have so much access to so much music instantly, but also you can put on whatever playlist you want and let the algorithm do the work. Some people might like that, but that’s just not always my thing.” That philosophy shaped Before You Go—an album designed to be absorbed in full, not just shuffled into a playlist.

Brandon’s writing speaks for itself. A deeply personal and emotionally charged exploration of love, longing, and self-discovery. Written, recorded, and produced entirely in his home studio, the album is both intimate and expansive—filled with intricate guitar work, cinematic soundscapes, and raw, unfiltered emotion. Before You Go doesn’t just document heartbreak; it embraces the complexities of love, the beauty of uncertainty, and the inevitability of change. When crafting his full-length debut — he aimed for a lasting sound that may live in a record collection forever. “A lot of my favorite artists are stuck like Gorilla Glue on the planet; they’ll never be erasable,” he offers. “I want to create timeless music like that too.”

Beyond his music, Brandon is dedicated to breaking expectations—especially as a young Black artist in a world quick to box him in. “When people find out I’m a musician, their first assumption is that I rap, or make R&B music, based off of the way that I look,” he says. “But I want to inspire kids who look like me to make whatever music they want.”

“Right Back,” the album’s lead single, is a striking showcase of Brandon’s ability to fuse guitar-driven alt-R&B with immersive, emotionally rich soundscapes. Evoking the storytelling depth of early Frank Ocean, the song captures the intoxicating push-and-pull of a love that hurts but still holds power. A minute in, it cracks open and never retreats, unfolding into a major-key anthem with syncopated beats that float effortlessly—weightless yet intentional, like a dove caught in the wind. More than just a love song, “Right Back” reflects a cycle Brandon has found himself in before—running toward something he knows will hurt, because for a moment, it feels like home.

“September” serves as both a plea and a farewell, reflecting on love’s fleeting nature through haunting instrumentation and Brandon’s signature warmth. The album’s title comes from its chorus lyric: “Can you hold me before you go?” Written at a time when he was trying to hold onto someone he knew was already slipping away, the song captures the quiet devastation of knowing a goodbye is inevitable, but hoping, for just a little longer, that it isn’t.

The album’s third single, “Seeing Stars”, serves as a time capsule in which Brandon reflects on a past love. Driven heavily by its ethereal rhythm and bass sections, He reminisces on past times as if he were trying to time travel and relive a very tender, nostalgic period, with lyrics reflecting on being lovestruck, and spellbound; beguiled by his muse.

“2 Good” explores the hope and disillusionment of love—both sides of the romantic coin. “The title is short for ‘too good to be true,’” Brandon explains. “I say, ‘I guess I’m crazy for thinking we could be something.’ It kind of speaks for itself. Feeling like it’s too good to be true or deceptive. In that situation, everything was so perfect, it felt like a dream. I felt so safe, but soon enough it ran its course, and the dream turned into a nightmare.” The song reflects the moment when love shifts from euphoria to painful clarity, unraveling into something you no longer recognize. These moments, woven through the record, offer an honest portrayal of love’s aftermath: how it lingers, how it changes us, and how we learn to move forward.

The album may center on one muse, but beneath the surface, past heartbreak lingers, making it hard to tell if Brandon is mourning love or celebrating it. That’s the point—love doesn’t exist in isolation. The deeper Brandon fell into new love, the more he found himself reliving the ghosts of past ones, questioning if he was really present or just chasing the feeling of something he once had. Heartbreak doesn’t exist in isolation—it has a way of stirring up everything that came before it, forcing old wounds to the surface. And as these wounds resurface, Brandon elaborates, “My faith is something that’s always carried me through. Even when I felt alone, I had God.”

The album is shaped just as much by past love as it is by moving away from home, losing friendships that once felt permanent, and struggling to redefine himself in the wreckage of change. Through it all, one lesson remains: the heart wants what it wants, even when logic and better senses say otherwise.

This emotional complexity is mirrored in the album’s sonic contrasts—moments of warmth sit next to moments of chaos, much like life itself. “Harmony in music is a coinciding note that’s played to support the melody,” Brandon says. “Harmony in life is balance—the idea that there is no good without bad. You can’t really learn or appreciate anything without trials.”

Looking back on the last six years, Brandon sees Before You Go as his most personal, fully realized work yet. “Taking my time with this record—allowing it to grow and not rushing the process—has made me the happiest I’ve ever been with my music,” he says. And as he takes this next step, one thing is certain: this is only the beginning.

And in many ways, it’s the realization of a childhood dream. “In my 6th grade yearbook, I wrote that I either wanted to be a professional soccer player or a professional musician,” he adds with a smile. “And hey, I did one of them.”