Album Premiere: Joseph Arthur - The Family

KEXP Premiere
05/27/2016
Jim Beckmann
photo by Ehud Lazin

Over the years, Joseph Arthur has been such a frequent guest at KEXP that we consider him family, so it's no surprise to us he's taken the idea as the theme of his latest album, The Family, on which he entwines fact and fiction to explore these universal ties. For Joseph, the new LP also represents something new and old. While it's his thirteenth (or fourteenth, depending on how you count), The Family is the first he's ever composed on a piano, one that has its own history. Says Jo: "I set out to make an album that centred about all of the aspects and all of the relationships of 'The Family'. And how fitting that these songs should begin on that hundred-year-old Steinway that had only ever belonged to one family." While the songs took seed on the keys, they've flourished on record into full-band compositions, featuring his well-orchestrated blend of folk-rock, psych-pop, soul and other sounds to highlight is distinctive vocals and terrific story telling.

You'll be able to pick up the album next Friday, June 3rd, when it's officially released via True North Records, but you can join The Family now with this exclusive full-album stream:

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