Joseph Arthur
Come to Where I'm From

THE REVIEW

Just the track "In The Sun", the opening song, would suffice to justify the critical acclaim (among the top ten albums of 2000 according to various specialized magazines) upon the release of Come To Where I'm From, Joseph Arthur's second album.
Indeed, this opening track is the synthesis of what musical perfection is: great melody, poetic and profound lyrics, a sublime arrangement with strings entering at just the right moment to add a dramatic tone to the atmosphere while Arthur's vocal performance is more poignant than ever.
This single song alone would elevate any album, but Arthur is a gifted songwriter and so he doesn’t settle for writing just one masterpiece. Instead, he fills the entire album with songs of piercing beauty and morbid charm.
Thus, we move from the unease of "Invisibile Hands" to the sick and paranoid ballad of "Ashes Everywhere," from the madness of "Creation Or A Stain" to the distorted folk of "Cockroach," to name just a few.

What makes these songs incredibly enchanting is above all the choice of the type of sound that looms over the entire work. A dense and dark sound, born from experimentation but which, through a reverse and strange journey, seems to reach the roots of folk and country.

The album's lyrics are nothing more than a long self-analysis where the author lays bare his fears, and like an exorcist does with prayers, Arthur fights his own demons with his songs, until he reaches the glacial (not redemptive) light of the captivating "Speed of Light".

If every album could be compared to a film, then this would be an Ingmar Bergman film, probably "The Hour of the Wolf". In that film, there was a sunset and there was a sunrise (even though it was cold and desolate), in the middle a long nightmare journey through the heart of the night and the subconscious, exactly what happens in Come To Where I'm From.