Martyn Joseph - Songs for the Coming Home

by Benjamin Howarth

published: 12 / 10 / 2012

Martyn Joseph - Songs for the Coming Home

Label: Pipe Records
Format: CD

Atmospheric and sensitive 31st album from Welsh-based singer-songwriter and folk artist, Martyn Joseph

Review

‘Songs For The Coming Home’ is Martyn Joseph’s 31st album, but it is the first of his I have heard. It’s odd to review an album by somebody who some readers will have been following for decades, having never listened to them before. That has happened because – while Joseph clearly has enough of a fanbase to keep making music – he’s never made himself a household name. Two of his albums, both released in the early 1990s, came out on major labels, but he has since settled into a productive career recording for small, independent labels. Earlier albums seem to have been hamstrung by a tendency to over-production, a common enough failing in singer-songwriters during the 1990s. Even his best songs, such as the touching ‘Dolphins Make Me Cry’, would be improved if the syrupy synth-strings were removed. No wonder many think that his live shows are much better than his studio recordings. Time has been the healer, in this case. ‘Songs for the Coming Home’ is sensitively adorned with atmospheric sounds – light pianos, pedal steels, percussion – that add colour to Joseph’s acoustic guitar. It’s a similar approach to that taken by Daniel Lanois on his celebrated production of Bob Dylan’s ‘Oh Mercy’. Joseph, meanwhile, sings in a weather beaten croon that will remind you of latter day Mark Knopfler. The only slight misstep is the bluesy romp, ‘Not a Good Time for God’, which – though fine on its own merit - slightly disrupts the flow of an otherwise balanced listening experience. Joseph is at his best when letting his songs unfold slowly. The moving ‘Clara’ - the true story of a man who realises that the mystery song he has held in his head all his life was sung to him by the woman who cared for him as a young child – builds gently, and its six minutes pass by almost too quickly, until Joseph sings of the pair being reunited in old age. It was the last song written for the album, and the point at which Joseph realised the album had a theme – of people returning home or rediscovering a place of solace. Another highlight is ‘Archive’, with lyrics written by a close friend during a trip across Canada, and recorded by Joseph in one take. Again, it is over six minutes long, and you feel that Joseph is at his most comfortable letting songs sprawl out around him. That said, he can also pen a good pop song when roused. ‘Beyond Us’ picks apart the greed that has led to the financial crisis, adorned with horns and a rowdy chorus line. “These are strange days to be an optimist”, he says. Joseph will be spending the next three months criss-crossing across the British Isles, taking in the big cities, as well as off-the-beaten-track venues in Canterbury, Andover and Hayward’s Heath. The locals are in for a treat.

Track Listing:-

1 Crossing The Line
2 Beyond Us
3 Let Yourself
4 Not A Good Time for God
5 Falling From Grace
6 Still a Lot of Love Around Here
7 Feels Like This
8 Clara
9 Whoever It Was
10 Archive