Joseph Arthur
Nuclear Daydream

THE REVIEW

He had left us with the dark and electronic songwriting of "Our Shadow Will Remain", an exceptional album plagued by distribution issues. Perhaps that's why Arthur, with his fifth album, is launching his own label. After two intense and feverish years, during which Arthur refined his craft, producing, arranging, and playing on two extraordinary records, with dazzling debuts like those of Tara Angell and Greg Connors, collaborations, unforgettable concerts, the publication of his first Art Book accompanied by an indispensable soundtrack titled "We Almost Made It", perfectly set between Byrne's electronic experimentalism and Gabriel's soundtracks.

"Nuclear daydream" carries with it all these experiences, distributed across 12 songs, simple, fascinating, and dark, stripped-down, almost skeletal to show all their bare enchantment, enveloping them in spiritualism and psychedelia.

All the songs are very catchy, and their structure is simple, but thanks to Arthur's precious arrangements, they manage to surprise and evolve with each listen, as in the case of the opening "Too Much To Hide" and the beautiful and ominous "Black Lexus". "Enough To Get Away" still bears the marks of the collaboration with Greg Connors and is a clear and unsettling song about the American dream. "Slide Away" is something between Prince and Bowie, just a little more acidic.

"You Are Free" is a superb psychedelic pop ballad, as are "Woman" and the lysergic spiritual of "Don't Tell Your Eyes". "Automatic Situation" closely recalls the most electronic moments of "Our Shadow Will Remain". Special mention for "Electrical Storm" and "Don't Give Up On People", two mutant and radioactive songs, hypnotic in their progression, blurred photographs of something that no longer exists, deeply beautiful and sad at the same time.

"When I Was Running Out Of Time" seems to have come out of 'Hunky Dory', genuinely beautiful supported by a great lyric and Arthur's formidable voice. The title track, a Dylan-esque ballad, closes the album, a song that is a boundary. It's something that ends, it's an intense emotion that, when it ends, leaves you empty, it's an atomic bomb of the soul, it's a nuclear hallucination.