I think my tastes in music are changing. It's a subtle thing - my genre preferences tend to expand with time rather than actually changing, so I'm hard-pressed to think of a style of music I used to like but dislike now. What's really changing is my preference regarding lyrics. Most of what I liked in my formative years was music made by Christians, for Christians, because that's my faith perspective, I relate to it when it's expressed through music, and for a while I believed that all "secular" music was bad. Now that those years are over, I'm finding myself more enchanted by elusive glimpses of spirituality in mainstream music. Perhaps this is because I prefer music as an art form that carries life experiences or enigmatic poetry with it, rather than as a vehicle for evangelism. Call me crazy, but I really don't think the purpose of a song is to teach doctrine - or anything else for that matter.
So what does all that have to do with Joseph Arthur? A lot, actually. He seems to fall into the category of faith-inspired music that doesn't preach or pander to an audience of solely Christians. Truth be told, from what little I know about the guy, I couldn't tell you whether he is a Christian. But a lot of Christian imagery comes up in the songs that he writes... and I'm not talking vaguely spiritual buzzwords a la Creed. It's tough to explain, because it doesn't seem quite accurate to label this "Christian music"... it's more like the effect a lot of folk singers have, coming from a singular perspective with specific names and places and thoughts being named, but still being relatable to many different kinds of people. Or perhaps it can be considered spiritual in the same way that Billy Corgan or Dave Matthews would be. Those might sound like odd names to throw out, but sometimes spiritually informed music has to take on that seemingly paradoxical tone of "Nobody knows the trouble I've seen, glory, hallelujah".
I can tell I'm not making sense here. So how about if I describe the music instead? Yeah, that's a good place to start.
Redemption's Son is Joseph's third full-length album (Peter Gabriel caught wind of this guy's music many years ago and saw fit to sign him to a label normally reserved for international acts). It contains a whopping 16 songs that can easily be described as an eclectic mix- it's unabashedly poppy one minute, dark and brooding tphe next, and lilting and folksy the minute after that. At first listen, this can be jarring, as if the guy's showing off, saying, "Hey, lookie what I can do with this genre!", but Joseph's songs have a certain charm (for the most part) that makes the stylistic identity crisis more believable. He's sort of a Renaissance Man in the studio, playing a bevy of instruments, tracking and re-tracking the songs until they're just right (the man is a wiz with vocal layering), and serving up over an hour's worth of music in a way that requires patience to sift through it all, but also communicates that Joseph is proud of all of his work. (Keep in mind that this came on the heels of not one, but four EP's - the guy apparently has new songs coming out of his ears.) Sometimes a really good melody or an intriguing lyric is enough to drive a song, sometimes background noise and ambience contributes an equal amount of meaning... in any case, there are only one or two places on this record where I think he could have trimmed the fat a bit. He keeps the flow of the album fairly unpredictable and interesting to listen to.
Aside from the length and the relative obscurity of this album, I think the main drawback for a lot of listeners is going to be Joseph's voice, unfortunately. It's got a sort of reedy quality to it that makes it tough to describe. I don't think it's extremely harsh on the ears, and it's probably nothing that will bug fans of the Smashing Pumpkins or the Red Hot Chili Peppers, but it is a bit of an acquired taste. Fortunately, Joseph has two secret weapons up his sleeve in this department - he sounds pretty good when he slips into falsetto, and the mix is even sweeter when his voice is heard in many layers at once. I guess you could consider this the sort of album that you might expect from a well-respected producer and songwriter finally getting a shot at a solo recording career. In any case, this situation is highly preferable to its inverse - where a pretty face with a sexy voice is singing songs other people wrote about absolutely nothing of importance. (And sometimes grittier male voices can be sexy - but then, I'm a guy, so what would I know about that?)
Redemption's Son
I know I'll never make it on the cross
Spent my days looking for what my daddy lost
He was too proud to have a boss
Sold himself out, said he couldn't afford the cost...
Joseph's voice is actually the first thing to greet you at the beginning of this album, as he sings the lonely words, "I don't know where we've been/Could you tell me where we are again/And Jesus is my only friend/No one else knows where I've been" over a quietly strummed electric guitar. Interesting how Jesus gets mentioned so early on - it's as if he's testing his audience to see who's only peripherally paying attention. Despite the spiritual allusions, this is actually a very dark way to start an album. Musically, it's very restrained, with the percussion building slowly to become the dominant force as Joseph begins to tell us all about what a failure his Earthly father was. He doesn't do it in a spiteful way - it's more like he takes pity on the guy for not knowing any better. He even stands up for the guy: "There are those that say he will burn in hell/I don't think they knew him very well." A ray of light shines through on the chorus, when some of those delicious layered vocals croon, "Angel of love, shine a light on us/I was born to be redemption's son". It's a song that hits very close to home for me, since I find myself in a desperate position of wanting to break the generational curse of deadbeat dads in my family. The Seal-like breakdown near the end of the song is simply icing in the cake after such a gripping lyrical turn.
Honey and the Moon
We're made out of blood and rust
Looking for someone to trust without a fight...
The mood lightens up a little bit when a flowing acoustic guitar starts the next song off, as the sun slowly begins to rise over the darkness of the first song. Joseph's tone is rather hushed here, as if he's singing a delicate love song, though I suspect this one has more to do with regret than romantic bliss. He seems to be reminiscing about a girl he once knew - perhaps they were in love, but she left him to pursue other dreams, and now he's distant from her and playing the "what if" game. The lyrical imagery in this song is superb, as Joseph states that "Right now, all your dreams are waking up", as if to indicate that whatever she was chasing turned out to be useless. The enigmatic line "I wish I could follow you to the shore of freedom, where no one lives" leads into another juicy, falsetto-driven chorus - I could think of several ways of interpreting that one, but none of them seem satisfactory.
Dear Lord
With this world gone to hell
And my freedom locked away in jail
Lord it's become so hard to tell
If you're there at all...
This upbeat folk/Gospel hybrid is actually the first of two tracks that only appear on the U.S. release of the album. I'm glad Joseph saved this one for us, because it's another witty blend of hope and despair. A harmonica lends an earthy sound to the song as Joseph sings about people abandoning him and life seeming very far away. While this is difficult for him, he seems to have an inkling that the good Lord is still hanging around somewhere, just not in the more tangible ways he once knew. It's as if God doesn't have to bust in with some science-defying miracle to prove Himself - Joseph asserts that "When You did not come, my faith was born." Some handclaps and Gospel-tinged backing vocals only add to the fun quirkiness of what could have easily been a very dour tune.
I Would Rather Hide
I think aliens abducted me
I close my eyes if I want to see...
At this point Joseph turns a corner - from the airy vocal intro that he leads off with, you can tell that he suddenly fancies himself a pop star. This song definitely falls into the category of "intelligent pop" - he's using a simple and playful beat, some tasty guitar fills, and a catchy tune overall to tell us how introverted he is and how "I know we're all insane when there's no one else around". At first you feel rather sorry for the guy, as if he's too paranoid to even leave his house - but I think "I don't want to go outside" is more metaphorical here than anything else. He's afraid of finding out that everyone's as wacko as he is! In some ways, this sentiment echoes Radiohead's "Subterranean Homesick Alien" - imagine that song with a much poppier musical framework, and you'd get a good approximation of this one.
Innocent World
We don't know which way we're going
Don't know where we are...
The first true ballad on the project fails to capture my attention as easily as some of the surrounding songs. There's nothing bad about it - it's mostly propelled by a light, tinkling acoustic guitar, and Joseph sings mostly in falsetto here. I think the verses seem a little dazed and randomly strung together, compared to some of Joseph's other lyrics. I like the main line of the chorus - "Hell has no reason to smile when you're living in an innocent world" - and there are some interesting background sounds here and there that sound like a train passing in the distance. I like the ambiance, but the song starts to drag after a few minutes.
September Baby
Summertime is over, I don't owe you nothing
When you say you're leaving, I want you to hold on...
This lazy little pop number sounds like a sleeper hit straight out of the 70's or 80's. It's got a very relaxed vibe to it, and the guitars shimmer in the background (thanks to a little bit of reverb) as Joseph begins to sleepily sing "Yeah yeah, yeah yeah, yeah". This approach threatens the momentum of the album a bit after "Innocent World", but despite all that, the song's grown on me immensely. It's about a relationship that is apparently in one of those uneasy phases where both parties are trying to figure out whether it's worth continuing. Since Joseph points out that summer is turning into fall, one can infer that this relationship was probably a summer fling, and now he's trying to shut his emotions off and pretend he was never in love in the first place, but part of him seems to wish she'd see through the façade and realize that he secretly wants to keep her. An amusing line comes at the beginning of this song, when he sings in a very jaded tone, "Your holiness is gone" - at first I misheard this as "You're holy Mrs. God", which, in a perverse way, would've actually worked!
Nation of Slaves
We live in a time where we get fed the same idea
Like junkies addicted to information...
At this point, Joseph gives us a much needed shift in mood by way of the most "rock" song on the album. Played over an intriguing 6/8 beat, the song feels a bit like one of Peter Gabriel's darker numbers with its world beat and vocal crooning intro, but this soon gives way the an intriguing and rather crunchy guitar chord progression. It's one of those songs that does a good job of painting "word pictures" - you can easily envision hordes of slaves laboring underneath the midday sun, crying out for freedom but not knowing how to attain it. Exactly what sort of metaphor Joseph's going for with this one, I haven't figured out yet. "A nation of slaves, we all say that I can't find my way without following you." Not sure whether that "you" is God or some tyrant slave-driver intent on keeping us all subjugated. But sometimes you gotta say, who cares, the song rocks! The synthesizers that wind through the song's quieter section as Joeph repeats the line "Burned by the sun" are a nice touch. My only real complaint about the song (no, the almost six-minute length doesn't bug me) is that all of the noise makes it sound a bit muddy. Too many layers, perhaps - but I wouldn't say that's the same thing as overproduction.
Evidence
I wanna die, I wanna die on your TV show
And be reborn as something that's real...
Joseph returns to pop mode here, with an irresistible programmed drum beat and two alternating chords during the verse that somehow manage to still sound interesting. The programming and background vocals make this song instantly likeable, even if the lyrics are bit enigmatic. He seems to be whining about a girl who won't notice him, but what he seems to want her to notice is that "I've been bad". Huh? It comes off as a bit stalker-ish, in the grand tradition of The Police's "Every Step You Take". Generally, when relationships and subtle dementia seem so closely tied together on an album, I have to wonder if there's a continuing thread and the songs are all about the same relationship - if that were the case here, then all I could say was that Joseph seems to have a tough time making up his mind about whether he'd rather love this girl or haunt her.
Let's Embrace
I think the sun is shining on me, I can feel it
God's eyes are looking down on me, I will reveal it...
Go figure that the requisite "single" would be one of the album's more annoying tracks. (This is the other song that's only on the US version - makes me wonder if it was a label thing.) Just as the guitars and drums get revved up for another catchy pop number, Joseph interjects rather arrogantly that "I think the world belongs to me". Say what now? The rest of it attempts to mix that arrogance with equal parts spirituality and sexuality - let's just say I've seen better attempts at such a combination than a song that propositions the listener to "Come up to my place, and then let's embrace/And then let's replace our fear with our faith." It flies by quickly enough to lodge a hook in your brain, and it's not that bad of a song in the end, but let's just say it's a good thing I haven't heard this one plastered all over the radio. It would drive me batty.
Termite Song
I know I really try, I never have been good
And for my missing heart, I carve one out of wood...
I should probably dislike this song on principle, since I often complain about slow, repetitive songs that take far too long to get their point across. Stretching out to over nine minutes, one might argue that Joseph could have easily accomplished his goal in about five without sacrificing much of anything. But darn it, this song made me fall in love with it - it didn't even have to grow on me. The lovely acoustic guitar melody that waves its way through this song makes for one of the most compelling instrumental passages of its nature that I've heard since Jars of Clay's "Frail". And while it takes Joseph's lyrics a while to even show up, I really enjoy the confessional nature of his analogies - he's afraid that he's not capable of truly loving someone, and so he makes it up as he goes along. He likens his heart to a wooden house being eaten out by termites - and in his usual ingenious fashion, he throws in some warped background noise to make it sound like that lovely acoustic guitar has a bunch of those little buggers munching their way through it. It's folk music with an electronic underpinning, and it makes for a lovely (if somewhat unorthodox) lullaby.
Permission
In the darkness you are naked
In the darkness you are near
You got everything you wanted...
The electronics take over as another thick beat seems to be trying to make this song a distant cousin of "Evidence". (Strangely enough, the song also samples a strange sound that was used in Peter Gabriel's song "More than This".) Joseph's at his creepiest here when he sings the chilling lines "I'm right inside you/And I don't need your permission to dig your grave". And then, in the very same verse: "I've got religion/And I don't need your permission to pray for you." Admittedly, it's an uneasy balance at best and you have to wonder exactly what he's getting at when he ties it all together with the chorus - "On the way down, you're falling up" - which whizzes by the listener like a speeding ambulance. The song makes for a great head trip until about midway through, when it collapses into something resembling a dirge. Perhaps that last part would have worked better for me if it eventually led back into the heavier chorus, but it just kind of sputters and fades out.
Favorite Girl
I don't know what I should do
I've been so happy being unhappy with you...
Joseph goes for the raw, unplugged approach on this one, with gentler percussion and another acoustic melody to keep things moving along. It doesn't work nearly as well this time, primarily because his voice sounds almost as if he's a bit hoarse. It doesn't add much flavor to an already repetitive song with a rather dull melody, that drags out for over six minutes. I've tried to be patient with this one, but in the midst of some of Joseph's more intriguing songs, it just comes off as a bitter, hollow tirade against a self-centered girl. It's got a few clever lines, but as Joseph drones on in his lower range, I find myself itching to hit the "skip" button on this one.
You Are the Dark
The doctor said I need a cure
But what I got, he's not really sure...
The mellow acoustic thing seems to work better for Mr. Arthur when he's got more of a fluid melody to work with and he sings in a higher pitch. This song is both of those, and while it comes late in an album of mostly mellower songs, it manages to keep my attention due to the heart-rending lyrics about losing someone special and being so drugged up on medication that you just don't know what to do with yourself any more. Sometimes the world can seem meaningless when someone important has passed away, and what's meant to heal can often make things look even darker. This song seems to hold the key to all of Joseph's wishy-washiness about the girl - apparently she's dead, and a presence that once brought light to his life now only brings a haunting darkness. Pretty sad stuff.
In the Night
And when we wake up, it's already dark
And i touch your face, feel your heart...
Coming this late in the album, one could easily accuse this upbeat, happy little number of being filler, especially since it doesn't have a whole lot of lyrics and it only lasts about two minutes. It's a punchy little number that seems to want to combine "Dear Lord" with "Let's Embrace", and that ain't such a bad thing after all - it gives us something else to sing along to, and it infuses the surrounding despair with the knowledge that "In the night, voices will fight/Voices of the shadows and the runaways running from love/And every sorrow left behind."
Blue Lips
Now i'm a hunted man, singing the song you sung
Wearing the noose from which you hung...
Listening to this song, you might begin to think that Joseph has completely lost it. Amidst an affecting backdrop of piano, county-tinged guitar licks, and hammered dulcimer, he continues to sing about his late lover, and the trials he's had to deal with since she passed away (including blaming himself for her death and being deluded into thinking he was Jesus Christ). The mixture of religious imagery and Joseph's depths of despair comes to a head when he makes a statement that nobody over in the CCM market would dare to utter: "The devil is the lord of this confusing world/Where all the wrong dreams come true". Sounds a lot like something Bono said at the end of U2's Pop. Yet unlike that album, Joseph doesn't end with such a sentiment - rather, he allows a little bit of light to shine in just when we think he's lost all hope.
You've Been Loved
Temptation sneaks past your fist
Until the devil won't let you resist
Oblivion is what you want...
That light appears in the album's final song - which musically is a bit on the unchallenging side, but lyrically manages to be an uplifting anthem for the depressed and hopeless. I guess you could call it a "redemptive" ending - Joseph seems to be insinuating that a lot of the guilt and other negative feelings we place upon ourselves when people pull away from us or even pass away is really at the root of what's dragging us down. The gentle reminder comes in the chorus that despite our choosing oblivion and all but putting the noose around our own necks, we've still been loved. He leave sit to us to fill in the blanks about who exactly it is that loves us, but his answer isn't that far away - let the album wrap around to the first track and you'll be reminded that "Jesus is my only friend". Rather than being overly draining and depressing, Joseph has done a fantastic job of gently reminding us that even the most harrowing and difficult experiences do not amount to God being absent in our lives. Well done, my boy!
Interestingly, the two tracks that were cut bore a resemblance to other songs on the album. "You Could Be in Jail", which was replaced by "Dear Lord", sounded a bit like "Termite Song" sped up, and the somewhat questionable "Buy a Bag" was a beat-driven piece that sounded like "Evidence" taken one step further. I can see why both wouldn't have really appealed to an American audience as much - the upbeat songs that replaced them helped the album to flow a little better, even if "Let's Embrace" was mildly annoying.
Admittedly, this album isn't going to be for everyone. Joseph's occasional allusions to drugs, sex, and hopelessness are likely to turn off those who are more used to the happier norms in faith-based music (and besides, it doesn't have that glossy Nashville production!) Listeners who aren't Christians may have a tougher time grasping how he can sing about God one minute and be so dang depressed the next, but I think that's exactly the point - bad things still happen to us believers and it's time we stopped pretending that our belief bought us immunity from pain. I think it will resonate with a lot of folks with vastly differing beliefs and musical tastes if given the chance, but for sure you've got to have an open mind to make it through all 16 tracks. It wasn't even easy for me on first listen - and yet now, I can't help but admire Joseph's ambition. I'm looking forward to seeing what he's got up his sleeve on his new disc, Holding the Void, which is apparently an Internet-only release.
ALBUM WORTH:
Redepmtion's Son $2
Honey and the Moon $2
Dear Lord $1.50
I Would Rather Hide $1.50
Innocent World $1
September Baby $1.50
Nation of Slaves $2
Evidence $1.50
Let's Embrace $.50
Termite Song $2
Permission $.50
Favorite Girl -$.50
You are the Dark $1
In the Night $.50
Blue Lips $1
You've Been Loved $1
TOTAL: $19
Website: http://www.josepharthur.com
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