Joseph Arthur Albums (8)
What The Critics Say
Temporary People is one of the most anticipated albums of Joseph Arthur's career (first place going to his debut, Big City Secrets). Capping over a year of release activity, with no less than four EPs leading up to his full-length for 2008, the LP seems fit to function as a cap on Arthur's continuing development as a songwriter (as well as the ongoing cohesion of his band, the Lonely Astronauts). Right from the opening title track, Arthur's songwriting shows refreshing vigor given all the activity. Arthur and his band are just as endearingly ramshackle as ever, quickly taking their place as one of the best alternative bands since the Replacements at sounding ragged and delightfully off the rails (especially so ever since Wilco became such willful perfectionists). Blistering rockers ("Sunrise Dolls") sit well next to heartbroken ballads ("Say Goodbye"), and the band's roller-coastering aesthetic is perfectly suited for Arthur's rambling, half-coherent delivery. If nothing here is as immediate as the highlights of Let's Just Be, the songs grow into an effortless blend of contemporary singer/songwriter quality and retro bar band flair. (More than even the recent EPs, Temporary People displays the Lonely Astronauts becoming one of the best backing bands in the business, a worthy complement to the heart-on-his-sleeve emphasis of Arthur's songwriting.) Not all of Arthur's lines scan perfectly, though; one head-scratcher comes from "Say Goodbye" -- "The letter you left me was laced with your perfume/Like a butterfly tryin' to fly back into her cocoon." If fans are expecting Temporary People to be a giant leap following a four-EP run down the track, they might be disappointed. Temporary People is simply another ragged-but-right release from one of contemporary alternative's most natural-sounding bands. ~ John Bush, All Music Guide
'Vagabond Skies'
Release Date 1/1/2008
Tracks 6
Label Lonely Astronaut
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What The Critics Say
Now that he has his own studio and label, Joseph Arthur must feel a lot of freedom when it comes to recording material, and this newfound liberation is most certainly evidenced on Let's Just Be, his second release on Lonely Astronaut. The album has the feel of an improvisational session, as if Arthur called up his band late one night, asked them to bring their instruments, showed them the sketches of 16 songs he'd been working on, and then told them to play (the occasional spoken direction of "then we go into a verse" only helps this theory along). Arthur is a talented writer, but there's an air of sloppy experimentation, of demos and B-sides and other things that probably won't interest more than the heartiest fan. There are some worthwhile tracks here -- the sad and lovely "Take Me Home," the poetic "Chicago" -- but unfortunately, these are few and far between the Mick Jagger-esque falsetto screeching, the cocky '70s-rock guitars, the repetitive lines of songs like "Shake It Off," "Diamond Ring," or "Let's Just Be." Arthur spends more of his time meandering around different riffs and rhymes (like in "Lonely Astronaut," which clocks in at 20 minutes, at least a quarter of which is an acoustic guitar layered with emerging and disappearing instruments, the word "I" sung continuously on the fourth beat). Unlike another prolific writer, Ryan Adams, who limits the accessibility of his wanderings to his website, Arthur is packaging his as a legitimate album. This may be creatively beneficial for him, and it may be a necessary part of his composition process, but for those not involved, it's less enlightening and interesting. ~ Marisa Brown, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
The flagship release on Joseph Arthur's own Lonely Astronaut label, Nuclear Daydream is a lushly produced and exquisitely delivered collection of 12 new songs, linked by his never-less-than florid eye for sometimes-'60s pop arrangements, and a lyricism that would put you in mind of a host of other performers, if you didn't know that the likes of Michael Stipe and Chris Martin are as influenced by Arthur as he is by them. The single "Too Much to Hide" opens the set on a blustering wall of symphonics; elsewhere, Nuclear Daydream aims for a more stripped-back approach, just Arthur's curiously vulnerable vocal against an acoustic guitar, or the sounds of a blues band, rehearsing in another room. Occasionally, it does get a little too calculated -- the half-falsetto that strains through "Slide Away" puts one in mind of the preposterous squawking that Mick Jagger layered through the Stones' "Emotional Rescue." But the stark "Electrical Storm" and the raw "When I Was Running out of Time" celebrate Arthur at his very finest, while the closing title track has a Dylan-ish edge that also turns the cycle full-circle. Without it ever deliberately going for the jugular, Nuclear Daydream is nevertheless an album that is difficult to shake out of your ears; moreover, it's one that only grows stronger with every repeated play. With that in mind, it's too early to proclaim it Arthur's best ever effort. But it's certainly one of the year's most compulsive. ~ Dave Thompson, All Music Guide
'Our Shadows Will Remain'
Release Date 9/28/2004
Tracks 12
Label Vector
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What The Critics Say
Joseph Arthur, who had been a critic's darling since his debut in 1998, scored a kind of sleeper hit on the fringes with 2002's Redemption's Son. His searing poetic lyrics and quirky, left-of-the-dial rock and pop sensibilities shone like a flickering beacon from the underside of human emotion and vulnerability. On Our Shadows Will Remain, he takes a further left turn from the heart of isolation and darkness into the broken heart of humanity, seeking to reveal the commonality of experience on the emotional and societal fringes via a sonically labyrinthine tapestry that is by turns raucous, tender, brash, and beautiful. On "Can't Exist," the glissando pop layers of organ and electric guitars underscore his broken, unapologetically confessional lyrics -- "Well I can't exist when you disappear/Disintegrate and I swallow everything/Sister don't be scared, a thousand times or more, I've walked away alive/On my feet again." As the chorus comes roaring from the center, a wall of squalling guitars ushers in a chorus of voices singing a mutant, netherworld gospel of determination and tears. On "Stumble and Pain," a muddied bass and drum pulse plods from the heart of the mix, as a fuzzed-out electric guitar and a forlorn, wasted bluesy acoustic carry Arthur's sung poetry over a string section played by the Prague Philharmonic -- though they sound like they are a forgotten string quartet playing for its life at the end of time itself. The spidery rock of "Devil's Broom" is more straight-ahead at the front but somehow more ominous: "In the time when I can't enough to make it/Give me back half the sense that I used to have/Waking up in the sun face down on the pavement/Everything I own in a garbage bag" -- but by the time the refrain slides around everything becomes lush, nightmarishly euphoric, and utterly strange and beautiful. Another standout is "Echo Park." The wonderfully arranged strings provide a patchy cushion that is elegant, graceful, and nearly pastoral, as they hover above and float though Arthur's poignant yet hopeful love song. "Even Tho" is a mutant pop song, with drum loops, wispy, shimmering keyboards, and a killer falsetto soul vocal from Arthur. The muscular drum loop "Wasted" undercuts the vulnerable vocal and dubby organ and electric piano lines. And so it goes on into the nocturnal, narcotic faux R&B groove of "Failed," the fractured overdrive lullaby that is "I Am," and the spindly, skeletal tenderness that is "A Smile That Explodes." The set closes with the spooky, harrowing narrative of "Leave Us Alone," closing the record on a fractured note. But the fragmentation, disintegration, and outsider narratives that are at the heart of the protagonists in Arthur's songs are familiar, too. Though they may live on the stiletto edges, they speak our language in that they bravely and even innocently articulate the most hidden of emotions, the ones we are afraid to admit let alone speak. And in doing so they bring them into the scope of the reachable, the mentionable, and their weight can be shared even among those of us lucky or fearful enough to never experience their consequences. Arthur is in a class of his own and Our Shadows Will Remain is a monstrous, memorable outing, his finest moment in a career that is thus far full of them. ~ Thom Jurek, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Though time had passed since his Real World apprenticeship, the Peter Gabriel influence looms larger than ever on Joseph Arthur's third release. In particular, Redemption's Son achieves a sophisticated marriage of traditional songwriting craft and avant-garde production, a combination that guides Gabriel's best work as well. The singer/songwriter foundation is clearer with Arthur, however; many of these tracks grow from a bedrock of acoustic guitar and vocals, with gauzy electronics shimmering across the surface rather than glistening within the fabric of the tune. Aside from a few inspired images, such as his admission that "I've been so happy being unhappy with you" in "Favorite Girl," Arthur's writing is steady and workmanlike; by giving prominent position to lines like "I wish I could follow you to the shore of freedom," from "Honey and the Moon," he tends to build in the verses toward slightly disappointing resolutions in the choruses. Even so, the sonic range achieved on these tracks, ranging from a filmy folk-rock evocation on "Dear Lord" to the collision of "Strawberry Fields" Mellotron and Duane Eddy twang on "I Would Rather Hide," suggests that Arthur may have even more promise as a producer than as an artist in years to come. ~ Robert L. Doerschuk, All Music Guide
'Come to Where I'm From'
Release Date 4/11/2000
Tracks 12
Label Real World
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
With Come to Where I'm From, Joseph Arthur shows a willingness to ease up on the stifling angst that dominated his previous efforts. To be sure, the album still has more than its share of gut-wrenching misery -- there's no shortage of lines like "I feel like taking a razor blade and on my wrist write an invitation" -- but this time out, the anguish is balanced by healthy doses of self-awareness and a winking sense of humor. "Ashes Everywhere," a wistful guitar and harmonica breakup ballad, induces intentional chuckles with its meandering, dopey melody and lines like "I'm just trying to be all that I can be without destroying you or joining the army." In the ferocious and whimsical rap "Creation or a Stain" -- a strange sort of crossbreed of Beck, the Beastie Boys and OMC -- Arthur whines about "a guy in my head" and says, "I've come back from the dead so anything can happen/ I'm obsessed with tragic endings standing out like Eric Clapton." In addition to the somewhat lighter tone, Come to Where I'm From exhibits a more polished and accessible sound, without sacrificing the adventurous spirit that has been Arthur's greatest asset. Arthur undoubtedly benefited greatly from the shrewd ear of veteran producer T-Bone Burnett, a master of art-folk melancholy whose resumé includes records by the Wallflowers, Counting Crows, Elvis Costello, and Sam Phillips. Burnett's input seems to have had the effect of honing Arthur's untamed talent. The melodies are tighter and catchier, demonstrating more restraint without seeming constrained. The U2-influenced "Chemical" has the sound of an alternative-radio hit. Arthur, who once described his music as "someone trying to heal over experimental folk-rock," is clearly still hurting. But somehow it seems significant that he's now able to sing, "I'm trying to enjoy the pain." ~ Evan Cater, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Joseph Arthur refers to his music as "someone struggling to heal over experimental folk-rock." His major-label career began after he received an unexpected answering machine message from Peter Gabriel offering him a contract on Gabriel's Real World label. Arthur's music employs a wide range of musical influences, adorning his songs with instruments as diverse as hurdy gurdy, corn horn, Venetian xylophone, caxixi, birimbau and harmonic missles. Experimental folk-rock is an apt label for such eclectic instrumentation. As for "struggling to heal," Arthur's strategy appears to be to heal through catharsis. His lyrics are populated with angsty lines like "You're easy for me to bleed on," "Put my daddy on Prozac, I don't think I want him back" and "You became a spider as I fed you the blood from my nose." All that "healing" can get to be a bit overbearing, especially when expressed in Arthur's tortured vocals. In his most restrained moments, his voice resembles David Rice or Jeffrey Gaines, but at his most extreme he's a dead ringer for Billy Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins. The songwriting is at its best when Arthur uses his sharp ear for melody, as on "Mikel K," "Big City Secret," and the harmonica-driven "Mercedes," which features background vocals from Brian Eno and Gabriel himself. The album's weaker offerings ("Desert," "Porcupine") have a tendency to drone tunelessly. But even then the weakness of the melody is somewhat mitigated by the inventiveness of the arrangements, and it's easy to see what attracted Gabriel to this promising artist. ~ Evan Cater, All Music Guide
