Following on from last year's long sold-out ABClub concert, now finally back in the ABFlex with a new CD: the compelling singer-songwriter, now with his live-painter's easel too (see below). In the meantime, this piece from De Standaard should amply suffice:

'For an hour and a half, in the ABClub, we imagined ourselves to be in Joseph Arthur's head. A head full of melancholy musings and magnificent songs.
An evening with Joseph Arthur won't cheer you up. The American singer-songwriter presents primarily sombre songs drenched in melancholy and the pain of living, with only every now and then a whiff of optimism. Moreover, in contrast to e.g. Jim White (who counters his heavy music with jokes), Arthur is introverted. At the end of the show, someone in the audience countered his own question: how are things with you? ‘I don't really know', answered Arthur. ‘Good, I think.'
Arthur is a prolific writer. For that reason he has sometimes made EPs and albums that weren't that convincing. But for his shows Arthur can rummage endlessly in a stack of impressive songs.
Arthur appeared, without his Lonely Astronauts, lonely and alone in the AB Club and so made magic with a loop-pedal. He kicked off on acoustic guitar with ‘Vacancy'. Later exchanging it for an electric version. Arthur sometimes layered two or three guitars on top of each other in order to let a song fan out. In doing so he always remained on the right side of the border between emotional and boring. In the first half of the performance, especially ‘Here comes the sun' and ‘Honey and the moon' made quite an impression.
Arthur is a favourite of the stars. Michael Stipe called ‘In the sun' the best song ever written, Peter Gabriel offered him a record deal, and he toured with Ben Harper. Arthur's music is also the ideal soundtrack for television series like Dawson's Creek, The O.C., Grey's Anatomy: all of which played one of Arthur's songs during an emotional scene.
Only the general public is lagging behind. Arthur is like the small masterpiece that nobody notices in the corner of the museum. Everyone was dreaming away in the AB Club, which for that matter was sold out. The rare drunkard who tried to introduce some atmosphere by clapping along to the music was reprimanded by Arthur himself: ‘Don't do that.'
Arthur, mostly bathing in a blue or red light, presented ‘In the sun' in an entirely unique version. That is not usually appreciated by an audience but, due to its lyrical power and Arthur's authenticity, the song firmly remained standing.
We went home from a magnificent performance, satisfied but a little despondent.'

So now the even better news: This time, Joseph Arthur The Simultaneous Painter is coming along too.