Hot off the back of his new single “Divine Feelings”, Vance Joy is back in the thick of it.
The Melbourne singer-songwriter is currently on tour across the United States, where over the weekend he joined The Lumineers onstage in Washington, DC. In front of 32,000 fans, Joy jumped in to sing “Gale Song”, an indie-folk crossover moment that felt tailor-made for the crowd.
@vancejoy
But it was his Sunday night performance in New York City (Monday morning in Australia) that really captured a magic moment, when Joy and his band squeezed into Old Mates, a Manhattan pub co-owned by comedian Andy Lee, for a secret pop-up show.
Around 300 lucky punters crammed shoulder-to-shoulder inside the bar for what looked like a sweaty, joyous set that brought the big-stage songwriter back to his early busking-era roots.
@haleyydriscoll my friends video but thought the world needed to see this 🥹#vancejoy #oldmates #nyc @Vance Joy @Old Mates ♬ original sound – Haley Driscoll
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@griflix Such togetherness in one room @Old Mates #nyc #vancejoy ♬ original sound – Griff_harr
The surprise show landed just days after a significant milestone: on September 5th, 2014, Joy released his debut studio album Dream Your Life Away, which shot to No. 1 on the ARIA Charts and went on to win him Best Male Artist at the ARIA Awards. That record’s success, driven by anthems like “Riptide”, set him on a global path that’s still unfolding a decade later.
“Divine Feelings” is the first half of a double A-side, paired with “Fascination in the Dark” (due in October). Written in Barcelona with longtime collaborator Dave Bassett, the track explores the spark of meeting someone life-changing — something Joy knows firsthand, having met his now-wife in the Spanish city in 2019.
Its cinematic video, directed by Bill “W.A.M” Bleakley, follows actors Erana James and Tom Wilson on a modern-day Bonnie and Clyde-style journey through outback Queensland. “Generally, not much filming happens in either of these towns, so we were a bit of a novelty and locals really embraced us,” Bleakley said of the Mount Isa and Cloncurry shoot.
With “Fascination in the Dark” on the way and festival dates ahead — including Adelaide’s Harvest Rock on October 25th — Joy is balancing blockbuster shows with intimate surprises, reminding fans that ten years on, his music still feels just as immediate.
