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Album Review
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Joshua Singleton’s self-titled record may claim country influences (see his MySpace page), but he’s ...Joshua Singleton’s self-titled record may claim country influences (see his MySpace page), but he’s far too eager to turn his guitar up and wail like a Memphis soulman to impress the Nashville crowd. Good. His Stonesy stomp, big riffs and organ washes, appear to have materialised from another age, when rock dinosaurs walked the Earth, and the only thing Robert Plant would want to do with Alison Krauss is unmentionable on a family website. Rock and roll with spirit and soul - you know where to go...
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CD Review
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Recorded at Asheville's Landslide Studio as well as studios in Jackson and Franklin, Tenn., singer/s...Recorded at Asheville's Landslide Studio as well as studios in Jackson and Franklin, Tenn., singer/songwriter Joshua Singleton's self-titled disc has a surprising amount of Nashville in its sound. Not Grand Ole Opry Nashville, mind you, but the new, edgy, country rock Nashville. Singleton seamlessly pairs electric guitar with Dobro and shimmery cymbals with lap steel, but from lead track, "Take Me To the Water," there's not a hint of twang to be found. Singleton's sound is invested in the rock end of country rock, his swagger fully intact. In "Another Sunday Morning" he sings, "She'll pour me a drink and I'll sing her a song and we'll string each other along, like some Cinderella fairy tale gone wrong." There's an allusion to Bon Jovi in his big-haired heyday, but with more compelling lyrics. And Singleton has the good sense to balance his bad-boy rockers with bad-boy ballads: "Smoking Cigarettes," an updated nod to Bryan Adams, "Falling Down," an aching-yet-swinging slow dance that Keith Urban would be lucky to cover.
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Now this is a great singer
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Now this is a great singer, Joshua Singleton's voice is perfect for this genre of roots rock and blu...Now this is a great singer, Joshua Singleton's voice is perfect for this genre of roots rock and blues. Add a touch of country into the mix and you'll get Joshua Singleton's 12 track debut album.
Joshua's vocals reminds a bit of Davey Pattison (Gamma, Robin Trower), there are moments when the music bring thoughts to Paul Rodgers and Free or why not say - Paul Rodgers paying a visit in Nashville.
The production could've been a little better but the songs are very good, not to mention Joshua's vocal performance - woah! Love it!
Favorite tracks : Take me to the water, Stepping stones, Another sunday morning.
(Kaj Roth) - Melodic Magazine www.melodic.net
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Faith is where it's at
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Faith is where its at
Crossing the boundaries between what we think of as Americana/Roots and Rock...Faith is where its at
Crossing the boundaries between what we think of as Americana/Roots and Rock music, Singleton joins that band of songwriters whose music belongs in stadiums in front of thousands of adoring fans. Jeff Caudill and Jack Ingram are other exponents of BIG songs that deserve to be regularly heard on AOR radio. Mellencamp and Springsteen have been blurring the lines for long enough, now it’s time for the next generation to take over.
Singleton sings like his life depends on it, and he provides the music that made me want to do this gig in the first place. Anthems come one after the other. ‘Take Me To The Water’, ‘Another Sunday Morning’, and ‘Smoking Cigarettes’. And that’s just the first three on this album.
This man has pedigree. Coming from a family that included a grandfather who hung out with Elvis (Presley, not Costello), a mother who has been a long time singer/songwriter plus a brother (Jonathan, who appears on this album) who has had two number one country hits, Singleton cut his teeth in both Memphis and Nashville. Well you can’t go too far wrong with that background.
Using his songs as a form of confession he speaks plainly and from the heart. Add some stirring melodies and lots of crashing guitar riffs, then well you’d not be mistaken to expect to hear him on Planet Rawkkkk in the fullness of time. ‘All Over Again’ with it’s driving beat urging the lyrics on “She ain’t gonna call, she ain’t gonna write. She’s gone and moving on with her life”, outlines his views on someone loved and lost. We’ve all been there. ‘To Swing Infinity’ would also fit right in there alongside the usual hard rock suspects; but of course it won’t get any airplay. And that’s a real shame.
‘Having A Plan’, and ‘Feel Something’ slow things down a tad, whereas the acoustic ‘A Crow And A Dove’ emerges as one of the stand out tracks on the album. Colin Brooks look out.
Aside from one track, Singleton co-wrote all the songs with different parties, including his brother and mother. Singleton’s faith is important to him, as his father used to be a preacher, but he never veers toward thrusting his beliefs down your throat. He’s far more subtle about it.
Of the last three tracks, ‘Confession’ brings in, maybe not unsurprisingly, some gospel tinged flavours, with it’s Sunday morning organ and Joe Cocker (esque) approach and soaring female backing vocals. Whereas ‘Meteorite’ leads with harmonica and chugs along in a funky uptempo way, with the lead guitar dominating the second half of the song.
This guy manages to strike the right balance between what’s important and what isn’t. His faith rises up, through rousing songs and then settles back down at the right time, and lets you make your own mind up; exactly the way it should be. I don’t need no God squad relentlessly knocking on my stereo door.
(Phil Edwards) - Americana UK, www.americana-uk.com
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Debut Album of hot Southern swamp rock that hints at great things in the future.
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Joshua Singleton seamlessly pairs his electric guitar with a dobro; shimmering cymbals and a funky l...Joshua Singleton seamlessly pairs his electric guitar with a dobro; shimmering cymbals and a funky lap steel as he swaggers through a dozen pretty much self-penned country-rockers straight from the lead track, Take Me to the Water all the way through to the belting finale Meteorite.
His voice growls on foot-stompers like Meteorite and To Swing Infinity; then heartbreakingly pleads for forgiveness on Another Sunday Morning, Confession, and A Crow and a Dove and even croons on Having a Plan. Not bad for such a young artist.
Many years ago when DLT ruled Fabulous Radio 1 he once described the Eagles and Doobie Brothers as 'perfect for motorway driving in the middle of the night' and that's exactly when this album will come into its own-on a long car journey when you can crank the stereo up as loud as you like without fear of upsetting the neighbours. Joshua Singleton's handsome good looks, quiff and a natty line in western shirts will him as many fans as this self-titled debut album and I am looking forward to the second and third ones; which will hopefully have a more world weary/lived-in feeling which JOSHUA SINGLETON hasn't quite got but needs.
(AH) - Maverick Magazine, UK www.maverick-country.com
