Joseph Arthur talks 2008: four EPs and a full-length :: Music News :: Articles

Last year, songwriter/poet/painter Joseph Arthur started his own record label, released the edgy and unpredictable Let's Just Be and opened his own gallery, the Museum of Modern Arthur. Give the man a gold star for all that work; it truly makes the rest of us look like underachievers.

But you'd be foolish to expect Arthur to slow down anytime soon. His creative outpouring continues this spring with the release of two EPs, Could We Survive (March 18) and Crazy Rain and Boredom (April 15). Two more EPs are expected later in the year, leading up to the full-length release of All You Need Is Nothing on Aug. 5.

Arthur tells Paste that Could We Survive is a "classic-song based work, with harmonies and a lot of home recording." Fans of Redemption's Son and Nuclear Daydream will enjoy the raw acoustic pop and thoughtful lyrics of songs like "Rages of Babylon." Meanwhile, Crazy Rain and Boredom is a more chaotic, dance-rock-oriented EP.

Although Arthur is still working on the other three releases, he says they will be mostly solo work, with some contributions from members of his band, The Lonely Astronauts. "I've been recording a lot over the last couple of years," he explains. "A lot of solo material. It's just figuring out a way to release music. I like releasing EPs because they're sort of fun to listen to and they're short. People tend to generally like EPs better because they're kind of like the underdog or something. They tend to be looser because there's not as much weight put on them. I'm trying to preserve that spirit and energy for the full-length, too."

Most of this new material was written and recorded in the back of his Brooklyn gallery, open since June 2007. Look for Arthur to host live performances there sometime this spring, leading up to his appearance at SXSW 2008.

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