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The Graduation Ceremony

Joseph Arthur

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Album Review

Having dedicated most of 2010 to his supergroup side project, Fistful of Mercy, Joseph Arthur returns to his solo career with The Graduation Ceremony. “There’s nothing to do in the Midwest but dream,” he sings on the album, which dresses up Arthur’s heartland pop songs with sweeping, atmospheric arrangements. Strings, pianos, synths, and female harmonies all make frequent appearances, adding some swirls of color to what might otherwise be a stark break-up album. Arthur is definitely hurting, and the song titles alone provide enough evidence of a relationship gone awry: “Out on a Limb,” “Almost Blue,” “Face in the Crowd,” “Love Never Asks You to Lie.” To cheer himself up, he gets a little help from his friends, leading a three-person band through these 12 songs and enlisting friends like Madi Diaz and Liz Phair to sing backup. The result is an album that doesn’t sound as sad as its content. Instead, we’re treated to the sort of elegantly weary, vaguely melancholic music that Ed Harcourt makes, with wistful melodies sung in either a smoky, folksy croon or a high falsetto register. Heartbreak makes for some some long, lonely nights. But it also makes for solid albums, provided you've got the right person in the driver's seat.

Customer Reviews

Gentle and Smooth With Killer Lyrics

For the last five years Joseph Arthur has been one of my absolute faves so - biased I am. He's a true poet. Follow his tweets as he tours the world, photographs NYC — a true true artist in a number of media (look up the Museum of Modern Arthur). Graduation Ceremony — this album caresses you. It goes down so so unconsciously smoothly - it takes a few listens to wake up to it - but with every hearing - you catch another snippet of story and it draws you in along a more conscious plane. I am not a lyrics guy so much — but he just catches me again and again.) For my money Joseph Arthur is one of the best lyricist going. Sonically smooth - you hardly notice the orchestration (which is very nice once you tune into it). It's just a wonderful soundtrack. I'll have to wait and see if it holds up to Crazy Rain, Nuclear daydream, Could We Survive and Temporary People (yeah - he has a lot GREAT albums out).

Watch out - if you are exploring JA - these songs will get you and you'll turn into a JA nut like me: Start with "Echo Park" - and try Rages of Babylon, Shadow of Lies, Could we Survive?, Foreign Girls, Precious One, Gimme Some Company, Too Much to Hide, Enough to Get Away, Nuclear Daydream, Look Into the Sky, Sunrise Dlls, Glue Sniffer, Puppets, Faith, Temporary People, Dead Saviour

Biography

Born: September 28, 1971 in Akron, OH

Genre: Rock

Years Active: '90s, '00s, '10s

Ohio native Joseph Arthur was discovered by Peter Gabriel, who signed the folk-rock songwriter to Real World Records in the mid-'90s. Arthur's debut, Big City Secrets, was released in 1997 and went fairly unnoticed, despite an eclectic, brooding sound influenced by the likes of Leonard Cohen, Joe Henry, and the late Jeff Buckley. Gabriel influenced Arthur's music, too, exposing his songwriting to a global palette, roping him into Gabriel's annual WOMAD shows, and giving him a roster of fellow labelmates...
Full bio

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