New York blackout…
In anticipation of his forth coming September album release, ‘Temporary People’, Joseph Arthur has decided to release four EP’s showcasing his work, and giving us brief tasters as what we are likely to expect with this final full-length offering. Here we have the third EP, ‘Vagabond Skies’, from the arty and slightly folky guy from Brooklyn. “It’s almost like the ‘50’s again,” he stated recently. “I’ve always like the EP because it has a looseness to it. I think songs work best off of each other.”
‘Vagabond Skies’ has six songs on it, and I have to be honest I was expecting something between the likes of Rocky Votolato, Langhorne Slim with a touch of Ryan Adams, however what we in fact get is something a bit more like a cross between Lou Reed and Beck…First song, ‘Slow Me Down’ is laid back and chilled with an acoustic rock feel like a mix of Frank Carillo and Langhorn Slim, that is heavy on atmosphere and backing vocals, drifting over you like a sweet warm breeze. Then the heavy strumming of the guitar with another simply constructed tune in, ‘Even When Yer Blue’ plays out I think that perhaps this is exactly what I was expecting…
There is something slightly Gothic about, ‘Pretty Good Company’ whereby Joseph’s voice is now slightly darker and more haunting, and whilst again it is slightly acoustic, we now have a drum beat and bass, whilst the contrasting high background vocals gives us some depth and the slight squeal of the synthesizer keeps us clutching our comfort blanket. Then, ‘She Paints Me Gold’ has a slight ‘70’s soul feel to it like a Simon & Garfunkel. It’s light, airy and wishy-washy, never really go anywhere, I’m afraid, however strangely enough is Joseph’s Most Requested and Never-Before-Released songs- well, what do you know?
The full about-turn happens with a the Electro-Drum-beat of, ‘Second Sight’ and you get the full extent to this artist • a man let’s not forget is an acclaimed painter and Grammy-nominated visual artist • as the dark Electronica/Pop smashes up in a Bowie and Gabriel kind of way, before the aptly titled, ‘It’s Too Late’ finishes off the EP going back to the beginning to the stripped down and simply irresistible slow Soul echo. Yes, I am a lover of half of this EP and am pretty non-committal about the other half. I’ve not heard anymore of Joseph Arthur’s EP’s or other music, so I cannot comment of the styles on those, however I would think that you will always get his experimental flashes within his work, but if he can suppress the need to override his talent of the simple acoustic songs with these then he could well have a great album coming out later in the year…However if he fills it with Electro-Pop, then Mr Aurther, don’t give up your day job…