Joseph Arthur
Album: The Ballad Of Boogie Christ
Label: Real World
Tracks: 12+12
Website: http://www.josepharthur.com

Joseph Arthur is of no question a singer-songwriter to be discovered if one hasn't done so yet. His imaginative lyrics and unvonventional instrumentation (there's lots going on!) as well as recognizable melodies and a natural, little dramatic voice are all worth listening to. I can still not get quite warm with the whole of the double record "Ballad of Boogie Christ". This is partly due to the overdose of biblical issues for my ears. It's not that I am not interested in Christian Mythology but mainly because the one sided lyrics don't fulfill the expectation I hold to singer songwriter music. I expect and I like to be introduced to thoughts or concepts or experiences that are new to me or are at least introduced to me in a new light. Nothing of this is the case with the content of this album - it leaves me cold somehow.

It might be me, I am far from saying it's not a good record - it just doesn't quite resonate with me on the whole. Well, there are exceptions - and it's the exceptions that do make a listen to the record rewarding. First and formeost it's the song "I used to know". This really appeals to me on several levels. It' the most transparantly arranged song on the album. It's plain and simple and beautiful. The lyrics, echoing biblical images, resonate with me because I can read and understand them on a personal level and can consequently connect to them. No idea if that's intended by Arthur - but it might partly be what troubles me a bit with this album: I don't quite get what he is aiming at with this album to start with.

There are more very good, rather catchy songs, however, like "The Currency of Love" or "Saint of Impossible Causes", both of which also lyrically appeal to me more than the majority of the album's songs. These lyrics, again, describe feelings that I can connect to and that therefore resonate with me: Everybody knows the experience of looking for salvation in saints like alcohol, music or love. And the opener, "The Currency of Love" is self explanatory. This 10th of Jospeph Arthur's records seems to be a rather awkward one to getting to know his music, but it's better to start with this one than not to start with it at all.

Dagmar Brudnitzki