Joseph Arthur & the Lonely Astronauts
Let's Just Be [Lonely Astronaut; 2007]

Rating: 3.4 (out of 10)

Joseph Arthur has about as much freedom as a musician can get. He has his own studio, owns his own record label, and has a backing band on call whenever he needs them. Let his sixth album then stand as a reminder that, sometimes, freedom isn't a good thing. Let's Just Be sounds like it came together on the fly, in jam sessions that didn't stem from any kind of solid idea. There are moments on the album that left me speechless the first time I heard them. I just don't think I was properly equipped to process the precipitous drop in quality between Joseph Arthur's past offerings and this one.

Arthur peaked in 2004 with Our Shadows Will Remain, a lucid, occasionally even ingenious meditation on living in a time of war. But here it's difficult to find any focus. Moreover, Arthur's tendency toward experimentation seems to have devolved to rote sonic noodling that goes nowhere. There are a few quality tracks among these 16-- enough for a pretty good EP-- but this is an 80-minute album with at least an hour of stuff on it that sounds at best like studio outtakes.

I can get behind the gentle acoustics and subtle electronic shading of "Take Me Home", for instance-- it has a fragile beauty that echoes some of his best quiet work for Real World and Vector. The album's nine-minute finale, "Star Song", has some of that as well, combining an American roots aesthetic with some vaguely South Asian overtones, harmonica rubbing up against guitars tuned and processed to sound like sitars. It's startling to hear something so interesting and affecting close out a record like this, and it at least leaves some hope that this is merely a short detour in Arthur's career and not a sign of things to come.

Beyond those songs, though, there's not much. "Lonely Astronaut", the album's 20-minute centerpiece, begins on reasonably solid ground, with acoustic guitars strumming away, but Arthur's gravelly voice sounds like it doesn't even know the lyrics and he falls way down in the mix. After a certain point it just wanders off into a hideously boring vamp with sounds randomly rising and falling as voices repeat single syllables over and over but not in any particular pattern or rhythm. Listening to the whole thing, which I've done several times now, is genuinely grueling. It's exhibit A in the argument that having 80 minutes available on a CD doesn't mean you have to fill it.

Other songs are terrible for more pedestrian reasons. He sounds more like he's puking than singing as he screeches his way through "Cockteeze" over lumbering, sloppy riff rock, but it's not nearly as horrendous as "Shake It Off", where he sounds like he's trying to imitate first an eagle and then a sheep as he vocalizes the title refrain. It might be a joke, but if you weren't in the studio when it was recorded, it's not very funny. The next song is unironically titled "Lack a Vision", and though it's merely boring and not outright bad, it's truly an unfortunate phrase to have on the album's back cover.

There's plenty of evidence outside of the general sloppiness of the playing and forced-sounding "out there" production that this was kicked together in great haste: witness Arthur instructing the band on the form of the song in the middle of the already rehearsal-ish "Yer the Reason". He could have at least overdubbed the planned solo he mumbles about. It's almost disappointing that there's any good music on this thing, because the bits he seems to really be engaged with, like the faux-country of "Precious One" or the folky "Gimmie Some Company", are bound to be lost along with the rest of it, much of which is simply unendurable. Here's hoping he got it out of his system.

-Joe Tangari, May 04, 2007
(from Pitchfork)

Re: the Pitchfork review (immediately above).

Well the reviewer at least mentioned Star Song!

When I first heard the album, I would have agreed with this statement but as a fan, I know that I would try my hardest to track down songs like 'Shake It Off' (even though it is a through away song -not even good enough to be filler) but now I think I am happy that Joseph included them. I like the fact that he is sharing (almost) everything... I guess that is part of his mantra after all.

Here's the full EW review ....

Let's Just Be (2007)
Joseph Arthur and the Lonely Astronauts
By Simon Vozick-Levinson
Seven months after the critical triumph of his contemplative solo LP Nuclear Daydream, Joseph Arthur has recruited a rocking new band to beef up his sound on Let's Just Be. With their help, he rips through swaggering homages to the Stones circa Exile on Main St. (''Diamond Ring,'' ''Let's Just Be'') and shifts gears with a few dark, delicate ballads that could have fit comfortably on Daydream. Unfortunately, Arthur drags his backing players through a good deal of hoarsely hollered filler between those peaks. B

Posted Apr 13, 2007
(from Entertainment Weekly)

The Daily Disc
Brad Frenette, National Post - Published: Monday, May 07, 2007

LET'S JUST BE, JOSEPH ARTHUR AND THE ASTRONAUTS
(Lonely Astronaut Records)

Like all worthy storytellers, Brooklyn-based singer/songwriter Joseph Arthur is adept at creating both setting and mood. His latest release, Let's Just Be, with new backing band The Lonely Astronauts, begins on a scuzz-rock stage with opening track, the Stones-inspired Diamond Ring, followed by the driving Goodlife. Then, with equal authenticity, Arthur eases off the gas and sonically invites the listener to sit around a beachside bonfire, slowly strumming love and longing on tracks like Take Me Home and the stellar Chicago. Fitting somewhere between a boozier Beck and a more sober Tom Waits, the lesser known Arthur shares with these artists the abilty to merge comfortably the experimental (see the track Lonely Astronaut, which features a 15-minute, three-lyric outro) with the classical. And, perhaps in a nod to his roots on Peter Gabriel's world music label Real World, the closing track, Star Song, features a unique and effective blend of sitar and harmonica. Let's Just Be emerged from a recent recording session in Los Angeles that reportedly produced over 80 new songs. Arthur and his new Lonely Astronaut compadres have already announced that a second album from the session will be released later this year.

(from National Post, Toronto)

Joseph Arthur & The Lonely Astronauts / Let’s Just Be
Lonely Astronaut/Indica/Outside

Pour ce sixième CD studio et deuxième parution sur sa propre étiquette, l’auteur-compositeur-interprète folk-rock Joseph Arthur a vraisemblablement carburé aux bons vieux vinyles de T-Rex et des Stones pour enregistrer Let’s Just Be. Homme-orchestre se dirigeant certainement vers un burn-out (il a lancé un album il y a à peine six mois!), Let’s Just Be semble avoir été complété avec urgence et ça s’entend. Sauf quelques bijoux (dont l’envoûtante ballade Chicago), cette œuvre du natif d’Ohio paraît brouillonne – voire inachevée – et tient plus de la collection de maquettes que d’un CD de chansons inspirantes auquel Arthur nous a habitués au fil des années. N’en demeure pas moins que ce nouveau cru est un produit honnête et sympathique qui devrait charmer autant les amateurs de folk que de rock rétro.

André Péloquin, 26 avril 2007
(from BangBang)

Joseph Arthur and the Lonely Astronauts
Let's Just Be (Lonely Astronaut)
2.5 stars (out of 4)

He's never scrawled "SLAVE" across his cheek or changed his name to a symbol, but Joseph Arthur already seems intent upon running with his emancipation from numerous major-label demands to a Prince-ly degree of self-indulgence. Arthur has hooked up with a quartet collectively dubbed the Lonely Astronauts for Let's Just Be, the first of two planned albums for 2007 unveiled scarcely six months after last year's self-released Nuclear Daydream. Interaction with others coaxes some surprisingly loosey-goosey fun from the insular singer/songwriter on "Diamond Ring" and the noisier, grunge-B-side sputterings of "Cocaine Feet" and "Good Life." The latter presages the self-immolative turn to come with "Lonely Astronaut," a 20-minute Velvet Underground-does-"Space Oddity" trial placed with bloody-minded purpose in the middle of the album. In keeping with that "jam band" ethos, the second half doesn't regain much of a focus until the "Diamond Ring" melody is stretched out to haunting effect on "Star Song." I'm a fan and I get the impression I'm being tested or prepared for something; newbies are still encouraged towards Come to Where I'm From. - Ben Rayner

(from Toronto Star)

2.5 / 4
Call Him Sensitive And He'll Punch You In The Face
~ Jon Young

Mixing his usual dark introspection with newfound animal brutality, Arthur's latest is a sweaty, first-take orgy that sometimes suggests Tom Waits fronting the Stones, only clumsier. Sleazy puke-stained rockers like "Good Life" and "Cocaine Feet" are nasty fun; elsewhere, the grating falsetto of "Shake It Off" makes a poor advertisement for primal scream therapy. Arthur's aggressive, self-indulgence reveals its limitations on the 20-minute "Lonely Astronaut," an unbearable eruption of guitar noise and deranged chanting.

SPIN May 2007

Joseph Arthur & the Lonely Astronauts
Let’s Just Be
Indica

Joseph Arthur’s latest disc is a failed experiment. It’s obvious what the man was going for, a sort of mish-mash of genres and styles, a casting-off of labels, a blend of music for music’s sake filled with post-modern studio tricks (recording pouring water) and I kid you not “inward singing” (see Tenacious D). But what it all amounts to is an awful mess. Songs need to be cleaned up, some altogether scrapped, studio chatter edited out, and the few good ideas that remain need to be honed and worked upon to produce something great. Arthur was shooting for a genius of experimentation akin to “A Day in the Life” and wound up with “Revolution No. 9”.

It’s an awful shame the whole thing ended up so sloppy because when Joe and the Lonely Astronauts are on, they’re quite damn good. Opening track “Diamond Ring” which wears its Rolling Stones influence on its sleeve is an irresistible and charming tune with a great sing-along chorus. The back end of the album which is a little more traditional sounding will reward those who make it that far with a nice run of songs starting with “Gimmie Some Company” and ending with “Star Song”.

This could have been a great ten-song album if only Joseph Arthur had left the quasi punk tunes for jam sessions and stuck to his strengths in the studio as a solid singer/songwriter. Let’s just hope he’s gotten it all out of his system.

- Sam Stilson, May 9 2007
(from The Spill Magazine, Toronto)

» "Let's Just Be" by Joseph Arthur And The Lonely Astronauts
(Lonely Astronaut Records 2007)

Part inspired indie singer/songwriter and part psychedelic experimenter, Joseph Arthur will certainly keep you guessing. His sixth studio album (and first with new band The Lonely Astronauts), “Let’s Just Be,” is no different. The album hops, skips and jumps around as Arthur indulges himself with breezy melodies and reiterated sounds. Those with patience and a taste for the untamed will surely find much in Joseph Arthur & The Lonely Astronauts to be fond of.

The rhythms that flow throughout “Let’s Just Be” are the kind that you feel in your bones and resonate in your soul. Setting the stage with whooping and handclaps, the album’s title track offers an upbeat groove while the laid back “Diamond Ring” and the harder edge of “Cocaine Feet” offer a real rock ‘n’ roll feel. On “Good Life” the music fades in and out as the track merges goofy with avant-garde before Arthur steps out with a swagger on “Cockteeze,” while he adds shrill falsetto vocals. Although he may be overconfident on some tracks, the gentle ballad “Lack A Vision” sees a humbled Arthur singing, “I love you and I always will/I want to come back home/Can I come back home? Can I come back home?” Elsewhere, the psychedelic sitar raga of “Star Song” brings the album full circle with its trancelike melody.

Singles be damned, “Let’s Just Be” simply is. With rich nuggets found here and there throughout the album, Joseph Arthur leads listeners on an entertaining hunt. But one thing has to be said for Arthur. He always seems to know exactly where he is going with the songs on “Let’s Just Be” and merely asks for your blind faith.

B+

-Corinne
(from PlugInMusic.com)

Joseph Arthur, who normally takes his time with his releases, has recently put out a new rock and roll, follow-up record to Nuclear Daydream, called Let’s Just Be. The man who was discovered by Peter Gabriel has given the world many critically-acclaimed, wonderful records to choose from, but this one takes a left turn from the usual lo-fi, enigma-feeling of his previous records. And, if the different sound isn’t enough to raise your eyebrow, he’s also added a band, which appropriately is called “The Lonely Astronauts.” But trust me on this one, it’s still better than 90% of the music that is out there now.

(from The Drop)

Joseph Arthur - Let's Just Be (w/ The Lonely Astronauts) - Lonely Astronaut, 2007
ME Rating: 2.5 stars (out of 5)
Reviewed by: Dennis Scanland
Date Reviewed: 2007-05-04

Joseph Arthur is really making use of running his own label, Lonely Astronaut. This is the second album in as many years for Arthur. Let's Just Be is labeled as Joseph Arthur and the Lonely Astronauts but for sake of argument it is just a solo album with a backing band, and not a very good album at that. Noteworthy: Kraig Johnson (Golden Smog, Jayhawks) is part of the Lonely Astronauts.

The album starts off fairly strong with "Diamond Ring", which could be a Rolling Stones out-take. It's got that big swagger that is instantly likeable. "Good Life" is pretty rocking as well, nothing to revolutionary just a good pace. "Precious One" takes a step off of the throttle and has decent results. "Spaceman" just loses me in the trip. He comes around on "Take Me Home", the sort of Arthur track we are used to. On "Chicago" Joseph seems to get lost once again. The song has potential but it only feels half-baked. What's with his voice on "Cockteeze"? He drove me nuts with this one. And damn, the title track is the most annoying piece of shit I've heard this year. Oh, it could be that it's only 20 minutes in length!

"Let's Just Be" seems to travel back to the Rolling Stones territory again but not as nice as the first track. Then that annoying voice returns on "Shake It Off", makes me want to end the listen right here. With "Lack A Vision" he almost has a winner but the ballad seems to be missing some heart. It comes on "I Will Carry You". I liked this one.

So while it's nice to see Arthur become a little more prolific, Let's Just Be is far from Joe's best output. There is the odd worthy song in this effort but not enough to warrant your cash. Don't begin your JA journey here. This album should be saved for hardcore fans, if anyone. I would suggest that he takes a little more time and some deliberate editing of songs on his next album.

(from Music Emissions)

"Joseph Arthur’s sixth studio outing, ‘Let’s Just Be’, finds the brooding singer-songwriter scratching every itch. From ’70s boogie to brooding, Skip Spence-like meditations, Arthur has very wide-ranging sonic interests and the talent to match his genre wanderlust. Most of the tracks have a loose, off-the-cuff feel that actually works to the advantage of the fairly skeletal songwriting, imbuing the simple structures with a one-take charm. Let’s just be, indeed."

(from regnyouth)

^ The review above initially appeared on cdUniverse and indie outlets such as Newbury Comics and others. It looks like regnyouth (which appears to be a blog) probably copied it from one of these sources. I haven't been able to determine the original source/author credit for that review so far.


Here's the main review carried by Amazon ....

Let's Just Be - Joseph Arthur (Artist)

It's hard to resist the urge to rock out once in awhile. Let's Just Be is proof that even the most smooth-voiced and pop-minded singer-songsters must get their ya-yas out now and again. On some songs, Arthur conjures the early '70s spirit of Mick Jagger while on others he seems to be shooting for Marc Bolan. His most ragged-sounding and strictly rock and roll album to date, the record has a very loosely hewn feel which reaches an apex during the 20 minute (plus) "Lonely Astronaut." That song starts out as a pleasant enough country warble then mutates into a sloppy rave-up before dissolving into a bizarre mantra of the word "I" chanted atop an acoustic guitar and what sounds like a cement mixer, before slipping back into the warble bit. This disc is charming in its own way, and clearly was a blast for all involved--but a tad more editing might have been nice. --Mike McGonigal

(from Amazon.com)

Joseph Arthur And The Lonely Astronauts - Let’s Just Be
article écrit par King of Siam, le 14 juin 2007

Retour sur la pointe des pieds de l’ami Jo avec un album de groupe pour le moins déstabilisant et fouillis. Mais l’obstination paie, et sous la crasse apparaît un disque d’une extrême complexité, parsemé d’hommages à ses aînés.

Difficile de suivre la carrière de Joseph Arthur. Son succès commercial étant inversement proportionnel à sa boulimie créatrice, le fan se doit de suivre à la trace la moindre publication du chanteur à la voix caméléon. Et autant dire que cette nouvelle livraison ne déroge pas à la règle. Seulement six petits mois séparent Let’s Just Be de Nuclear Daydream, l’album du retour à la simplicité. De plus, fatigué d’avoir à courir les labels, Jo s’est lancé dans le bain pour créer le sien, Lonely Astronaut. Et autant dire qu’il compte bien user et abuser de son statut de plénipotentiaire pour n’en faire qu’à sa tête.

C’est dans ce contexte de liberté artistique totale que Joseph Arthur a réuni quelques potes pour casser son rythme d’écriture, coucher sur le papier et mettre en boîte pas moins de 80 chansons, enregistrées en condition live et produites a minima. Let’s Just Be est donc la première livraison de 16 titres issus de cet énorme bœuf, une seconde fournée étant prévue pour l’automne 2007. Mais à l’issue de la première écoute de cet opus, on a beau être un indécrottable admirateur du chanteur d’Akron, pas sûr que notre enthousiasme demeure à la hauteur de celui qu’il a visiblement mis à se lâcher.
Quiconque a assisté à un concert de Joseph Arthur sait combien l’expérience est indélébile, tellement la tension et la douleur qui habitent l’artiste confèrent à ses sets un côté messe noire terriblement inquiétant mais franchement addictif. Et on attend tous qu’il enregistre dans les mêmes conditions un album intégralement inédit. C’est à peu de choses près ce qu’il s’est essayé à faire ici, toujours vissé à ses pédales d’oversampling. Sauf qu’il s’est entouré d’un groupe qui semble sérieusement alcoolisé. Certes, on sait combien l’alcool à hautes doses peut être un catalyseur formidable lors de l’enregistrement d’un disque de groupe, ce ne sont pas Neil Young et ses Crazy Horses qui nous contrediront, Tonight’s The Night en étant la preuve presque irréfutable (se soldant quand même par la mort brutale d’un des acteurs).
Malheureusement, s’il est aisé de soupçonner que sa liberté toute nouvelle lui confère un état d’esprit de gamin longtemps privé de joujoux, on comprend difficilement son goût pour la surcharge pondérale, son appétence pour les possibilités infinies d’une table de studio. Il ne sait pas s’arrêter, il en rajoute des tonnes. Certains albums frisent même la correctionnelle. On pense particulièrement à Our Shadow Will Remain ou Redemption’s Son, sauvés par des compositions jubilatoires.

C’est, une fois encore, le défaut majeur de Let’s Just Be. Ses chansons qui se suffisent pourtant largement à elles-mêmes se voient affublées d’effets lourdingues (reniflements et miaulements en tous genres parsèment les titres les plus obscurs de ce très long disque) quand ils ne sont pas franchement douteux. La chanson "Lonely Astronaut", idéalement placée à la charnière de l’album, en est le parfait exemple. Sur un lit d’accords folk cristallins, le chant est une complainte sidérante, la mélodie somptueuse et la production vertigineuse. Mais sans que l’on sache très bien pourquoi, au bout de 5’30 minutes de ce miel, Joseph Arthur saborde littéralement son travail pour se lancer dans une performance studio ridicule, une bouillie sonore infâme qui a le mauvais goût de s’étaler sur plus de 10 minutes ! On est donc en droit, au bout de 5’30 de cette chanson, de passer au titre suivant.

Qu’on se rassure, l’écriture est toujours aussi capable d’éclats, certains titres s’avérant même d’ultimes joyaux. Des morceaux tels "Chicago", "Take Me Home", "Lack Of Vision" ou "I Will Carry" n’ont rien à envier à "Mikel K", "In The Sun" ou le très récent "Enough To Get Away". Joseph Arthur est encore l’immense songwriter qui explosa en plein milieu de l’année 1996. Finalement, il serait plus juste de prendre ce disque comme une mégarécréation, un pur délire au cours duquel Jo a décidé de rendre hommage à ses maîtres.
A ce titre, sa ressemblance vocale avec Frank Black y est parfois déroutante. Quant à son clin d’œil appuyé aux Rolling Stones et aux Beatles sur la chanson titre, il est particulièrement réussi, ce blues contemporain de Exile On Main Street est criant d’authenticité. D’autres hommages plus discrets y font merveille, comme cet appel du pied à Sparklehorse à la fin de "Lack Of Vision". Enfin, "Cocaïne Feet" ne ressemble pas à un hommage à Nirvana, mais bel et bien à un inédit du trio de Seattle période In Utero, pas moins, tout comme "Gimmie Some Company", magnifiquement interprétée par l’élue de son coeur ; on ne sait trop si l’on doit en rire ou applaudir à tout rompre tant le mimétisme est total.

Ce disque barré est donc à l’image de son auteur, un homme blessé mais libre, mort et ressuscité maintes et maintes fois, qui n’a plus peur de rien ni personne. Et un artiste qui a été capable de livrer l’inoxydable série des Junkyard Hearts (ces quatre maxis mis bout à bout constituent le véritable chef-d’œuvre de Joseph Arthur) peut désormais tout se permettre. Il faut donc s’armer d’une dose chevaline de courage pour affronter la jungle de ce disque. Mais, moyennant quelques impasses, l’effort en vaut la chandelle. Et il est désormais établi pour l’éternité qu’un disque de Joseph Arthur, ça se mérite.

(from Pinkushion)