REVIEW : Vagabond Skies - QRO Magazine

by Ted Chase July 2, 2008

Note : 7.5


In the lead-up to the fall release of his latest full-length, Temporary People, singer/songwriter Joseph Arthur has been putting out a series of EPs, first Could We Survive (QRO review), then Crazy Rain (QRO review), and now Vagabond Skies (the fourth & final EP, Foreign Girls, comes out in July). While Crazy Rainsaw Arthur experimenting with techno and distortion, Vagabond Skies is kind of a ‘return’ for the artist, a pretty record even in its effects.


“Slow Me Down” starts the EP off on a high echo/reverb, and that aspect is something that holds true throughout. However, unlike the real alterations of Crazy, the effects on Vagabond merely reinforce Arthur’s soft touch. “Slow” plays haunting, while the following “Even When Yer Blue” goes more alt-country, and the subsequent “Pretty Good Company” moves into alt-folk. More of a mood record, there aren’t really highs & lows on Vagabond, per se, but “She Paints Me Gold” is probably the best track, thanks to its interesting background guitar solo. Unfortunately, the following “Second Sight” and “It’s Too Late” are probably the weakest numbers, with “Second” seeing too much reverb, while the stripped “Late” not doing enough with its echo.


Most musicians couldn’t produce the kind of output Joseph Arthur can, but this is a musician with something like two hundred unrecorded, unreleased songs in his back pocket. He’s also got a loyal fan base that will lap up them up. After getting something a little unfamiliar in Crazy Rain, they’re sure to enjoy the Arthur they know on Vagabond Skies.