Time affects us all, or at least it should. Humans aren\u2019t supposed to be just one thing forever; we\u2019re meant to evolve and become several versions of ourselves between the start and finish lines.<\/p>\n
In his days thus far, Josh Joplin has been: a coffeehouse folksinger of uncommon urgency; an indie-label darling who hit big (2001\u2019s #1 AAA hit \u201cCamera One\u201d); an indie-label castoff finding his way again; co-founder of the folk-Americana collective Among The Oak & Ash; an award-winning independent film producer; and a family man.<\/p>\n
After a decade spent mostly away from music, Joplin returned last year with an exuberant reunion show featuring the Josh Joplin Group that had backed his turn-of-the-millennium moment in the popular music spotlight. Around the same time he also turned to writing and recording new material. The result is Figure Drawing<\/i>, a new album whose promotional materials attribute it to \u201cJosh Joplin and Among The Oak & Ash,\u201d although the physical packaging of the CD features only the album title. While it\u2019s likely reading too much into that detail, one can\u2019t help observing that it\u2019s as if Joplin is both seeking and instinctively shying away from that bright, familiar spotlight.<\/p>\n
Figure Drawing<\/i> finds Joplin supported by Among The Oak & Ash comrades Wes Langlois (guitars, backing vocals), Jeremy Darrow (bass) and Brian Owings (drums), plus Allen Broyles (keyboards) from the Josh Joplin Group, along with Hannah Miller (vocals) and Fats Kaplin (violin, pedal steel, mandolin). However they ultimately bill themselves, this collective is well-suited to Joplin\u2019s approach here: organic, earnest, heartfelt singer-songwriter material that\u2019s grounded in a folk-rock vibe but ranges to wherever the individual song needs to go.<\/p>\n
Opener \u201cJust Ghosts\u201d leans into the pastoral side of Joplin\u2019s musical persona, living up to its title with a dreamy, haunted country-folk lament that feels like it might be about the simultaneously lovely and lonely isolation every writer experiences. Second song and first single \u201cMe Then Now\u201d takes us back to JJG days with an up-tempo number melding appealing acoustic-and-electric melodies with a lyric that engages ideas about fate and friendship in an elliptical, beguiling dance. It could be an outtake from 2002\u2019s The Future That Was<\/i> if not for the silvery violin and gauzy reverbed vocals.<\/p>\n
The traditionalist Americana tune \u201cSkeptics Gospel\u201d is just what its title suggests, a lilting set of moral teachings for the nonreligious (\u201cNo matter what you choose \/ You can\u2019t ever lose \/ If you\u2019re decent and kind \/ Then love will provide\u201d). The equally earnest \u201cTell The Ones You Love Them,\u201d a contemplation on grief and connection, urges us to speak up while we can, because you never know what may be around the corner.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s clear by now is that we\u2019re hearing a Josh Joplin who\u2019s both the same and different, an exuberant wordsmith and engaging vocalist with a lot on his mind and a gift for turning that into art. And if the overall feel of the music is more, well, mature than in the past, why wouldn\u2019t it be? As everyone who\u2019s ever done it can testify, growing up is hard, but full of chances to learn along the way. <\/p>\n
The bouncy \u201cStatus Update\u201d feels like a direct descendant of Joplin\u2019s early hyper-verbal coffeehouse raps, a rambling, rollicking number that seems to be about aging, with a side of internet addiction (\u201cI\u2019ve settled on bittersweet diversion \/ Scrolling for a thrill but I never get my fill\u201d). Marking the midpoint of the album, the title track is an expansive, rather Band-flavored number about a creative\u2019s life: the observations gathered up and discarded along the way, the crushing losses and heart-exploding joys, concluding with gratitude for it all.<\/p>\n
Mournful road song \u201cHistory Of I Do\u201d doesn\u2019t leave a big impression, but then comes \u201cThoughts And Prayers,\u201d a mesmerizing, devastating meditation on school shootings, told from the point of view of a parent. Next, \u201cLazarus And The Gospel Plow\u201d offers a sprawling, Dylanesque take on how the twisted \u201cdoctrine of prosperity and fame\u201d has turned many American Christians toward a philosophy that would make Jesus recoil.<\/p>\n
Joplin melds pop smarts and Americana jangle on \u201cShifts That Transform The Heart,\u201d an existential self-interrogation disguised as a love song\u2014and loaded with hooks galore. The album closes on a more contemplative note with the piano-led \u201cLate Night, Early Morning,\u201d which feels like it might capture a pandemic interlude, one of those moments when the larger world feels like it\u2019s crumbling but an instant of connection and love is all it takes to regain your footing.<\/p>\n
Figure Drawing<\/i> introduces us to an older and more grounded, but no less intense and inquisitive Josh Joplin, offering an album richly layered with keen observations and engaging hooks. To which I can only say: it\u2019s great to meet you, again.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":35183,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[6705],"rating":[5617],"class_list":["post-47064","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-josh-joplin-group","rating-rating-b-plus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/47064","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47064"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/47064\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35183"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47064"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=47064"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=47064"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}