He originally played Australian Football for Club Coburg before pursuing a singing career.
He was true indie for awhile, with only one EP to his name, and risking a life of obscurity. Everything changed when his song "Riptide" came from left field to win Triple J's Hottest 100 in 2013, the largest musical democracy in the world. This immediately gave him international renown and a deal with Atlantic Records.
His debut record, Dream Your Life Away, was released in September 2014. The follow-up Nation of Two was released in 2018. Features the song "Saturday Sun", which could be just as catchy as "Riptide". His third album In Our Own Sweet Time was released in 2022.
Not to be confused with Foy Vance.
Discography
- Dream Your Life Away (2014)
- Nation of Two (2018)
- In Our Own Sweet Time (2022)
I love you, when you're singing that song and I get a trope in my throat 'cause you're gonna sing the words wrong:
- All Just a Dream: The end of the "Play With Fire" video.
- Cover Version: Has covered "Don't Change", "Fake Plastic Trees" and "Elastic Heart" for Triple J's "Like A Version".
- Dark Horse Victory: Joy's debut single "Riptide" was voted by over a billion people worldwide as the biggest song of 2013, over global radio stalwarts "Get Lucky" and "Royals".
- Face on the Cover: The cover of Dream Your Life Away shows half of his face.
- Gag Sub: Used in the "Riptide" music video.
- Literal Music Video: "Riptide
" is one made by the artist himself, and it basically films all of the Word Salad Lyrics as is, resulting in a nonsensical series of events. One of the few things in the music video that isn't in the lyrics is the implication that the woman in the song is being abused by her lover. (Or perhaps he's her stalker, rather than her lover.) - Reggae: Perhaps the best label for him.
- Shout-Out: In "Riptide" to Midnight Cowboy:"There's this movie that I think you'll like/this guy decides to quit his job and head to New York City/This Cowboy's running from himself/And she's been living on the highest shelf."
- Stage Names: On how he got his unusual stage name:"I was going through a Peter Carey phase and reading a lot of his books. There's a book called Bliss. The main character's name is Harry Joy and his grandfather is Vance Joy. He's the storyteller and a crazy old man. Plus, I thought it was a cool name."
- Word Salad Lyrics: A staple of his work. "Riptide" in particular is notable for this.