Joseph Arthur - Redemption City (2012) [Hi-Res]

Singer-songwriter and painter Joseph Arthur’s newest record “Redemption City” is one of the biggest, more ambitious wonders of the new year. It’s an epic record, addressing the state of things in America and in Arthur’s mind. It canvasses the meaning of human interconnection and that feeling like something isn’t right with the world. But it’s also a record about finding solace, restoration and transcendence. “Redemption City”, even in the title itself, suggests a pouring out of passions, dreams, desires, and hopeful notions of something better around the corner. It’s a sprawling two-disc, 24-song record (divided into 12 songs each). Arthur unfairly is sometimes categorized as a far-reaching musician. Too esoteric. Too pseudo. Too keen on personal idiosyncrasy. In truth, in a day and age where idiocy is mistaken for populism, and intelligence makes one ‘suspect’, he’s more or less a victim of the times. But his tight-knit core of fans is devout, and with good reason. The value of his vision and voice speaks for itself on the new record. On the opener “Travel as Equals”, Arthur sings in prophetic verse about how to survive in a world of division and chaos: “In the dark of graveyard chatter / In the light of freedom’s call / In the heat of any matter / We travel as equals or not at all / Bloom disgust, class divide / I saw it written on the wall / The only way we can survive, we travel as equals or not at all.”