Over-conceptualizing has been an increasingly negative issue for American folk music in the past decade, but if one artist is rejecting it in every way, it’s Joshua Radin in his new EP though the world will tell me so, vol. 2. though the world will tell me so, vol. 2 has a lot of dimensions to it, starting with its fascinating blend of distant crooning and an alt-folk style physicality, but we never catch our singer getting lost in his aesthetical ambitions rather than focusing on the guts of a groove. Thoughtful pieces like “Neverland (version two)” and “Over the City” in this record give us a lot of momentum from behind the mic, and at its core, I think Radin’s latest release could be considered one inspired more by the absence of creative wit in the indie circuit over the last few years than anything else.
URL: https://www.joshuaradin.com/
Because of the state of indie culture, it feels like a lot of artists are trying to maintain a singularity in their work these days, but this doesn’t seem to be the case with this player. There are cultural influences from contemporary life in “Don’t Give Up on Me,” but their greatest moments come in the form of artistic outbursts one normally expects from a live performance exclusively. It’s as if this player has been holding everything in and saving it for a grand release in these tracks, which is more inviting than some of the predictably smothered content some of Radin’s peers in folk music have been making in recent times. Both musically and lyrically, this is a reflection of what he’s been through and, more importantly, his interpretation of the world around him.
Another role player in this record is the atmospheric backdrop against which Joshua Radin made though the world will tell me so, vol. 2, and while I can’t speak for everyone, I couldn’t listen to “This One’s For,” “Man of the Year,” or “Neverland (version two)” without thinking of the crossover alternative folk music that has been making waves once more in the mainstream. I don’t think he’s trying to follow the trend, but he does have a rootsy tone to his voice that I would love for him to exploit a little more the next time he enters the recording studio. He sounds like he isn’t holding anything back from the audience in this EP, which isn’t the case for some of his well-hyped rivals.
Bold moves are made in the songs that comprise though the world will tell me so, vol. 2, and Joshua Radin shows himself to be on the spot introspective where and when it matters to his fans in this record. He’s come into his own in a way that some critics might not have anticipated coming off of a multi-year hiatus from recording, and I think a lot of the material he’s recorded for though the world will tell me so, vol. 2 wouldn’t have been tangible to his skillset when he debuted nearly a decade ago. Radin is the perennial singer/songwriter here, and he doesn’t have a hard time showing us that.
Chadwick Easton