Cautious Clay shares new single 'Father Time (10AM)' from forthcoming new album
Singer-songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Joshua Karpeh aka Cautious Clay
shares his newest single and accompanying visualizer, “Father Time (10am)” from his upcoming album, The Hours: Morning, due May 16th via Concord Records. Serving as the third offering from the project, the track follows the previously released singles “Tokyo Lift (5am)” and “No Champagne (6am).”
“Father Time (10am)” explores the importance of living in the present moment and letting go of societal expectations tied to aging. Through this introspective and soul-stirring song, Cautious rejects conventional timelines in favor of authenticity, encouraging listeners to be present, reclaim their time, and embrace their truest selves.
Speaking on the new song, Cautious shares: “I wrote this song about acknowledging how important it is to act and live presently. Father Time is often associated with the aging process, so saying ‘Father time is gone’ is like saying all the things one thinks is a part of getting older cannot and should not apply to the life we want to lead or the life that makes us feel most at home.”
It’s a brand new day for Cautious Clay, and he’s taking it head-on with The Hours: Morning, a conceptual endeavor that’s equal parts mixtape and emotive timetable. After moving to Philadelphia following the release of his last album — the jazzy and autobiographical KARPEH — time spent in Brooklyn, the city where Cautious Clay bloomed into the artist he is today, became much more precious, and ritual became a necessity. Pushing the limits of a freeform existence that once felt natural, Cautious began to build a schedule that prioritized time outside of the studio in which he’s spent most of the past decade. The new confines provided the infrastructure for focused creativity, and soon enough, he had netted over 60 songs over a year.
Of this batch, the eight that appear on The Hours: Morning were selected on the basis of which Cautious associates with each waking hour. This album interprets daybreak as something more conversational than intensely personal. Armed with a certain pop precision that he’s honed over the past decade, it’s a project that further illuminates Cautious as an artist whose strength lies in his dexterity.
Touching on the album, he shares, “Every hour of the day has a distinct feeling to me. With this eight-song project, I wanted to reflect on what the morning feels like to me, so I made what felt like 8 discrete hours of the day. Some of the hours feel calm, and some of the hours have more energy, but I wanted them to play off of each other based on different experiences I’ve had during those times of day. The particular color of amber used for the album artwork also felt like it encapsulates both the calm early morning and the energy/warmth of the rising sun.”
Since emerging in 2017, Cautious Clay has crafted a unique sound that defies boundaries, seamlessly blending pop, alternative R&B, jazz, and indie rock with deeply introspective songwriting. His breakthrough came with 2018’s Blood Type and the standout track “Cold War”, a raw and resonant call for emotional honesty that has since garnered over 150M streams. The song’s reach extended far beyond music, landing in Issa Rae’s HBO hit Insecure, Olivia Wilde’s movie Booksmart, and was reimagined by Taylor Swift and Jack Antonoff on Lover’s “London Boy”.
Beyond his own artistry, Cautious has established himself as a highly sought-after songwriter and producer, collaborating with Billie Eilish, John Mayer, John Legend, Khalid, Kavinsky, Melanie Martinez, Remi Wolf, and most recently, Tycho. Following the release of his acclaimed EPs Resonance and Table of Context, he delivered his full-length 2021 debut Deadpan Love, a nuanced exploration of the complexities of human connection that earned him praise from The New York Times, Rolling Stone, The Fader, PAPER, and more. With his 2023 album KARPEH, Cautious reached new artistic heights, delivering a more intentional and sonically rich project. This bold evolution offered an intimate portrayal of his journey, his past, and his family life, solidifying his place as a singular voice in modern music and one to watch.
