JOSEPH ARTHUR - Crazy Rain

For the second stop in the slew of releases announced for this year, Joseph Arthur shifts scenery once again with his new EP “Crazy Rain”. “When I make an album, I tend to circle around it for too long”, he says. “EPs, on the other hand, keep me in a confined space, they're like poems”. From the folk-pop of “Could We Survive”, he moves on to a harsh, cutting sound built on guitars and drum machine: and even if the result is less sharply focused than the previous EP, Arthur confirms his full willingness to take risks and put himself on the line.

The opening “Killer's Knife” sets the mood right away, with Arthur's metallic voice carving its way through guitar blasts and wave-style keyboards that seem to come straight out of “Our Shadows Will Remain”. It's no coincidence: this is a track that's been played live since 2004, but unlike what happened in the past with more or less contemporary pieces like “Chicago” or “You Are Free”, this time the studio version is even more effective and richer in nuance than the live one. Arthur describes “Crazy Rain” as “almost techno and wonderfully chaotic”: in truth, the pulsing rhythms and obsessive drive of “I Wanna Get You Alone” and “I Come Down”, together with guitarist Jen Turner's voice alongside that of the American songwriter, bring to mind more than anything the dirty, abrasive blues of the Kills. The collaboration with Greg Dulli on the languid, nocturnal “Nothing 2 Hide” doesn't leave much of a mark, while “Dream Of The Eternal Life” floats along on a long, spacey intro, and the lightness of the piano and keyboard interplay on “Radio Euphoria” ventures not too far from the U2 of the “Zooropa” era. But what stands out above everything is the acoustic bareness of “Hunter”, suspended over a quivering electronic bed, confirming that it's the solo dimension that still allows Arthur to cast his deepest spell.

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28/04/2008