The Connecticut indie and alt-rock singer and guitarist unveils a melodic and introspective new single on Friday, March 29 via H1 Massive

OUT NOW: Listen to ‘A Point of No Return’ via Spotify

New album ‘Rose Gold’ set for September 2024 release

Middletown, CT [March 29, 2024] – The sidewalks and alleyways of any street in a major city are littered by the past and present. Memories casually dangle off lamp posts, storefronts echo a familiar faded laughter, and the breeze between buildings carries with it the sentiments of change, refreshing the moments that have since shifted from a defining part of our lives to a mere footnote in a longer journey. The navigation of a city is a lot like our own navigation through life, and for Joey Wit, New York City provides the backdrop for his crystalline new single “A Point of No Return,” set for release on Friday, March 29 via H1 Massive.

Ironically, it’s this introspective look back for the Connecticut indie and alt-rock artist that’s providing a clear view forward, as his melodic new single – a buoyant daydream of psych-pop bursts that push and pull, intertwining lyrical wordplay with glistening guitarwork that bridges a flirtatious gap between American and English influences – sets a tone for Wit’s forthcoming sophomore album, Rose Gold. It’s a record due out in the fall on H1 Massive that includes contributions from 2015 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame guitarist Ricky Byrd (Joan Jett & The Blackhearts) and drummer Matt Starr (Ace Frehley, Mr. Big).

But to understand where Wit is now is to understand where he’s come from; a professional baseball career cut short due to injury, an engagement abruptly called off, a life trajectory that has taken him around the country and back again. All of those things are mere footnotes in his story of the now. Delivering his lived-in lyrics with a barstool wisdom and the chords from his guitar with a confident, playful jangle, “A Point of No Return” is a magnetic song of wistful longing, about looking back in order to look forward – and that helps define Wit’s still-unfolding journey.

“The lyrical content of the number is definitely from personal experience, it’s sort of just me reminiscing on a lost love, which happened to be my first relationship after an engagement had ended,” Wit says. “I wrote it during a time, when like so many others, I was spending many days alone with my thoughts. So this was a sort of inside look into a day in the life of that relationship, I suppose, especially the verses. The setting of the song all stems from a trip to NYC, a really perfect couple days together in the Lower East Side, and then ultimately going back there alone and seeing all the same places we once visited together… but still cherishing the memories.”

What has emerged is a song that stands out in a busy field, as Wit combines his passion for classic rock with modern alternative, harnessing the same tender tension through anthemic songwriting as the likes of Oasis and The Stone Roses; an ability to convey feeling and emotion as Wilco and Radiohead; and provide the psychedelic depth of Yes and Pink Floyd. It’s a stirring cocktail of anecdotes and influences, all aligned through the storytelling in his songwriting, aimed at engaging the listener by painting a vivid picture; the music as the canvas, the lyrics as the brush. Though these are Wit’s tales to tell, he knows the scenes that are crafted are entirely relatable.

“For anyone who’s been through that, they’ll know the range of emotions from the hope and excitement to the fear and anxiety of being vulnerable again,” he admits. “The chorus is quite literally me trying to express, or really just convince myself, that it was ok to feel these things again for someone and go ‘all in’ – even though it didn’t work out in the end.”

“A Point of No Return” was penned by Wit; produced, engineered, and mixed by Mick Connolly at Red Room Sound Studio in Torrington, Connecticut; and mastered by H1 Massive’s John Eye at Beach House Studios in Weymouth, Massachusetts. Appearing on the track alongside Wit, who in addition to vocals contributed acoustic and electric guitars, bass, and percussion, are Starr (drums), Mick Connolly (electric guitar, bass, backing vocals, and percussion), Clay Selmont (electric guitar), and Lucinda Rowe (backing vocals and piano). There’s a cohesion amongst the players that speaks to the dynamism and drive at play in the tune.

“I like to think the ghosts of my influences live in the studio with us when we’re recording, but I don’t think we really consciously chased any one sound or style, rather we sort of let it develop in the studio,” Wit notes. “We may channel an approach to a certain instrumental part, but not necessarily for the song or record overall. I always go in with a plan, but completely open minded enough to explore or try collaborative ideas. Matt [Starr] and I tracked the drums live to tape so that’s truly the ground layer we built upon. From there we sort of knew we had the core of the song and could adventure a bit down different avenues. The middle section was truly off the cuff in the studio, we had some space to play with, and created this sort of sonic atmospheric swirl without leaving the platform of the song!”

Wit is especially proud of the guitar tone heard on the track, which exudes a dramatic flair not unlike something out of Manchester – particularly that familiar, inviting tone of Noel Gallagher and John Squire. The rich tapestry of guitar sound on “A Point of No Return” was cultivated through a few different configurations of guitars, pedals, and amps.

Wit runs it all down: “The fingerpicking intro and rhythm parts were performed with a Rickenbacker 360, Strymon El Capistan with the Chase Bliss Gravitas and Dark World, with the Electro-Harmonix Holy Grail into a Handwired Vox AC-30. The lead guitar harmonics were done with a 1980 Les Paul Standard into an Analog.Man King of Tone, Strymon El Capistan and the Chase Bliss Gravitas & Dark World into a 1970s Ampeg VT-22. Then there’s this sort of ‘lead-rhythm’ track that mirrors the bass line. I performed that with my #1 Gibson ES-355 into an Analog.Man modded Electro-Harmonix Small Stone Phase Shifter with the Greer Black Tiger Delay Device into the AC-30. That Black Tiger delay was a bit of a secret weapon in the studio, the feedback knob is capable of creating all sorts of wonderful soundscapes!”

While there’s quite a bit of a sonic landscape packed into “A Point of No Return,” at its core is simply Wit with a guitar, as textures and layers added allow the song to blossom. And the hope is that it will entrance the listener, pull them into his engaged world of storytelling, and embrace the various backdrops and moments that unfold over Rose Gold’s 10 tracks – five of which, including “A Point of No Return,” will serve as singles connecting this release to the record in the fall.

With a busy release schedule comes a busy performing schedule. Wit is set to cross the Atlantic this spring to tour the United Kingdom and Ireland with guitar heroes Joel Hoekstra and Brandon Gibbs, and play live as much as he can in the States, in and around his home base of Connecticut and beyond. It’s on stage where Wit truly shines, and “A Point of No Return” is destined to be a live favorite.

“I think it’s a really strong starting point for the rest of the record,” Wit admits. “You can strip it down to bare bones and it’ll still hold its own, which I think is something most great songs share in common, but there’s still some mystery to it with the textures we’ve added both below and on top of the main floor of the song. It has the sensible pop elements that make for a true single, but also takes listeners deeper down below the surface into places you’ll experience on some of the record’s other tracks.”

And in order to do so, all the listener has to do is look around.

Appearing on ‘A Point of No Return’:

Joey Wit: Vocals, acoustic and electric guitars, bass, and percussion

Mick Connolly: Electric guitar, bass, backing vocals, and percussion

Matt Starr: Drums

Clay Selmont: Electric guitar

Lucinda Rowe: Piano

‘A Point of No Return’ production credits:

Words & music written by Joey Wit (Joseph Matthew Eagan Witkowski)

Committed to tape, mixed, produced, and engineered by Mick Connolly at Red Room Sound Studio Torrington, CT

Mastered by John Eye at Beach House Studios

‘A Point of No Return’ single artwork:

Joey Wit looks back to push forward on the dynamic ‘A Point of No Return’

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