Joshua English - Trouble None

Clearly and respectfully, I am only one man from Canada. That has never been more apparent to me than while reviewing music from different musical scenes and specters of the globe. Having nothing of a reference point, I could see definitive tones of Crowded House and Canadian native Matthew Good emanating through Joshua English’s first major solo release, entitled Trouble None. The album marks English’s first solo embarking after spending close to seven years with the Bostonian pop three-piece Six Going On Seven. Landing what looks to be a formidable home at the Oregon-based Welcome Home Records (created by husband and wife Justin Goodman and Stacy Lopresti-Goodman) Mister English looks to be a ready for a major career change…or a massive and completely unoriginal failure.

Being a musician, I know the scathing feeling of a negative review or negatively geared feedback either after a show or initial song-listening. I completely understand the intensely personal nature of good art within music and that when it gets bashed, it often feels like a piece of you is getting bashed. Unfortunately, though, I think there are far too many musicians within the industry (big or small) who have never been told, “Hey man, your stuff really sucks!” Because even if I had to hear that ever-resonant and core-cutting statement, I know it would be more beneficial to me in the long run to have someone tell me the truth. I think music is a weird and multi-faceted monster and has room for many to contribute - but one thing that I don’t believe in, especially when they are pursuing something that they are truly passionate about, is giving someone “the sympathy vote.” I think that may be what has happened to Joshua English and although I truly don’t know how he has arrived at his current juncture, I only hope that someone shows him an alternate path.

Ultimately, I couldn’t help thinking that I had heard every one of these songs somewhere before, on a major pop music radio station, butdone much better with much more content and depth behind them. That’s not to say that the instrumentation and acoustic/electric guitar-driven flavor of the album is bad. There are some great background noise arrangements involving synthesizer and some solid drum sounds (“Los Angeles Killed Me Complete”) but in the midst of each song, after four or five listens to this whole album, I couldn’t help repeatedly asking, “What is he trying to say?” as there are obviously some seriously personal messages that English is sending but they are either too vague, muddled or whiny to be heard. But what do I know? Perhaps there is a market for Joshua’s music - he sure has a lot of MySpace friends and comments. All that we can hope for, at the end of the day, is that the good music will prevail and that the music industry will always be more about the art than the entertainment.