Maths Time Joy collaborates with Rich on the reflective “Hoping You’d Call”

Grammy-nominated artist, producer and DJ Maths Time Joy is no stranger to collaboration, with powerhouse features from the likes of Sinead Harnett, RITUAL and J Warner, it’s no surprise that his new work is impeccable. NYC-based Rich, known from his work as a part of Thirdstory (who toured with and wrote for Chance The Rapper) and the experimental band Refs, has amassed a huge following on TikTok as he launches his solo project this year. Now collaborating for the second time with Maths Time Joy, the duo seem to have cracked the formula for a contemplative, experimental gem.

“Hoping You’d Call” follows on from the pair’s previous track “Change”, which dealt with themes of abusive and toxic relationships. This time, the lyrics focus on the feelings of unrequited love from the time Rich dated someone and didn’t get the result he wanted.

“I wrote this song after going on a few dates with a guy and started getting feelings for him that were unrequited,” shares Rich, “I started doing all the classic things people do when they start falling for someone - telling everybody about him, feeling weightless, and planning out every text obsessively. I was really let down when he said he just wanted to be friends.”

Rich wrote the song while on tour with Chance the Rapper, and was listening to a lot of PARTYNEXTDOOR, Future, and Eli Sostre at the time. All clearly good influences, as Maths Time Joy was on board from the first listen. “Rich sent me a demo of the song and I loved it straight away,” says MTJ, “I could hear it having big dramatic choruses and we ended up working remotely to finish it.”

“Sometimes you have to find the point where you connect musically and other times it just instantly makes sense, and it was that way with Rich.”