Album review: MARTYN JOSEPH – This Is What I Want To Say

Bandcamp [Release date 12.01.24]

‘This Is What I Want To Say’ sees Martyn Joseph in stripped back acoustic mode, aided by a few guest musicians, most notably the mournful cello playing of Liz Hanks.

‘Albert’s Place’ is a beautiful song, commissioned by BBC Radio 2 and based on the work of the Sunderland Community Soup Kitchen, which serves hundreds of people on a daily basis. The chorus sums it up -

“And Albert’s Place has seen it all,

The meat and coal when the big ships sailed

But maybe now the greatest day of all

Brings tea, in a cup of love”

‘Waiting For Rain’ is so, so powerful in its lyric of a Syrian refugee settling into Wales and the piano and cello work wonderfully together. Other highlights include ‘Don’t Need No Cathedral’ (a song that also reminds us what a fine guitarist he is too) and ‘It’s A Fine Thing’, a song written for the wedding of one of his children.

Not an album to have on in the background as it requires the listener’s full attention, and after listening to it you certainly come away thinking about and questioning many things. Martyn Joseph is here in his rawest songwriter form providing one of his strongest albums to date, both in terms of songwriting and impact it has on the listener. ****

Review by Jason Ritchie

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