Joshua Daniel
Music that is direct and heartfelt goes in and out of fashion every few years. Sincerity, often confused with pretentiousness or sentimentality, is easily celebrated and easily mocked. Few artists have the conviction to maintain warmth and authenticity over the course of a musical career with multiple chapters. Seattle musician Joshua Daniel is one of those artists. Joshua has made music in a wide array of genres ranging from punk to folk over the course of the last 25 years, but the thread that runs through all of it, including his new instrumental album with Paul Gonzenbach called Forever Falling, is honesty.
Born out of an intense period of health issues for Joshua, Forever Falling has its roots in an earnest desire for connection. Connection with collaborators, connection with spirituality, connection with the excitement of experimentation, and ultimately for Joshua, connection to hope. The album explores the beauty and expressive qualities of opposites such as rhymthic vs. arrhythmic elements, organic vs. synthetic, and consonant vs. dissonant. The result is dreamlike and, at times, hallucinatory songs that are sometimes lulling and sometimes disorienting. It’s a record that is equally rewarding as a soundtrack for sleeping and worrying, the kind where you hear something new on each listen.
