"This year's best singer-songwriter has arrived"
‘
"A song writing beacon"
"A taste worth acquiring"
"As good as music gets"
" A talent worthy of taking seriously... a gripping spectacle"
"Joseph Arthur's magnum opus. Uplifting. A great collection of cracked American rock songs"
"A driven, visionary character he might just be a genuine mad genius"
#2 Album of 2004
"A collection of powerfully emotional (but tuneful) exorcisms. Each listen reveals
something more."
Chris Rubin's #1 Album of the Year
"Shadows is as good as music gets."
Top Ten Albums of 2004
"Layers of whirling guitars, glistening keyboards, driving percussion and his voice, often with a throaty falsetto on top, coalesce to reveal his distinctive gift."
"One of the more emotionally ponderous singer-songwriters in rock moved his base of operations from New York to New Orleans last year, the better to soak up the dark side.
Our Shadows Will Remain , his new album, shimmers with
stylized pain and new production techniques."
"Shades of David Bowie, that godfather of so many adventurous modern rock acts, keep popping up on this latest effort from critical and cult favorite Arthur. Folding funk, punk and pop textures into arrangements that are at once raw and gracefully atmospheric, the singer/songwriter glides from lithe, pulsating numbers such as ‘Wasted' to the rougher, more muscular ‘Devil's Broom.'"
"The music his following has been waiting for is the new album Our Shadows Will Remain , recorded in New Orleans and packed with varieties of folk-rock from atmospheric ballads to orchestrated, industrial strength rockers."
"Right from the start of Our Shadows Will Remain , Joseph Arthur re-establishes his position as one of our most emotionally revealing and talented singer-songwriters."
"Joseph Arthur creates a dynamic swirl of noise that somehow appears almost magically all around him. It seems to inhabit the space he inhabits. Its through that musical miasma that he threads his sweet and acerbic melodies."
" Our Shadows Will Remain is remarkably cohesive.
Credit its core: warm, airy vocals, often stacked upon one another in a mini choir, and lyrics that are poetic and seductively mysterious."
"Gorgeous, dark melodies, dense sonic textures and poetic lyrics...[ Our Shadows Will Remain ] is masterful."
" He recorded [ Our Shadows Will Remain ] in New Orleans, where his intricately arranged pop developed a liberated, musically promiscuous sound."
"The impressionistic swirls [of Our Shadows Will Remain ] enhance the plights of Arthur's restless characters, who are looking to understand the world, or who, as per the fragile hook of the glorious ‘Wasted,' have fled the apartment and ‘need to find a place to cry.'
Without being ploying, Arthur's soundscapes provide that place."
"On first listen, Joseph Arthur's songs are dark and mysterious. On second listen, they're magical and masterful.
Our Shadows Will Remain is Arthur's latest masterpiece."
Top Ten Albums of 2004
"The Ohio-native songwriter adds a sense of otherworldlyness to his multi-layered rock tunes, which build into a frenzy while relating simple emotions."
Top Ten Albums of 2004
"The songs are lush, poetic, squalling, spiritual, and strange. Just like life."
David Hoekstra's #1 Album of 2004
"A brooding bouquet of polyrhythms and smooth strings,
Our Shadows Will Remain continues to challenge after repeated listens, and that's why it's my favorite of the year."
"On Our Shadows Will Remain , Joseph Arthur sets his sober lyrics against a gamut of pop stylings, ranging from the gravely quiet to the upbeat and rocking...With the angst factor high, Arthur crafts his most accessible and engaging CD to date."
"Arthur's latest is another exceptional effort from a songwriter fixated on God, salvation, parents and one's sense of place."
"It isn't often that a true musical artist comes around: Bright Eyes, Elliott Smith, Nick Drake, and PJ Harvey are all great examples. With Our Shadows Will Remain , Joseph Arthur proves he's part of that elite group."
"The songs on his fourth record, Our Shadows Will Remain ...paint an even denser emotional and musical portrait. Arthur makes pop and rock songs, but moody and broody, with beats and textures that recall new wave and lyrics that come from a more personal place."
"Arthur is in a class of his own and Our Shadows Will Remain is a monstrous, memorable outing, his finest moment in a career that is thus far full of them."
