Nuclear Daydream
Joseph Arthur's fifth album, and the first for his own new label, is quite likely his best to date. Stripped-down throughout and achingly lovely, it shows that Arthur's far more than the smart folk's one-man jam band. He's a rad songwriter with more than one setting on his blender, an often-gorgeous singer who can go low and high with equal rewards. It's hard for some of Arthur's trustafarian trappings to not rankle, from the repeated chant of "be here now" at the close of the gorgeous, Eels-ish opener "Too Much to Hide" to the ridiculous Jerry-Garcia-underwater guitar playing on "Slide Away." But those moments are few and far between. If you need one song to convince you that Arthur's a major talent, make it the Neil Young-y bad-dream song "Black Lexus." It's hard to not seeNuclear Daydreamas a blessed distillation of Arthur's talents. Huzzah.--Mike McGonigal