By Joe Johnson (The Cascade) – Email
Print Edition: January 14, 2015
Joshua Radin is a musician who maintains an almost steadfast schedule of releasing a new album every two years. There’s now nine years of distance since We Were Here made him the decisive leader in the romantic acoustic folk genre. With Onward and Sideways, this is Radin’s sixth release and second independent album following 2013’s Wax Wings — and truth be told, this a much better album than that previous album.
Radin began his career by having soundtrack-worthy songs. So much so that his popularity came with having his tracks featured in the emotionally charged scenes on the now-concluded Scrubs television show. And that’s how Radin made his name, pulling at those sensitive heartstrings. Unfortunately, by releasing albums on such a stringent schedule we were ultimately left with an album like Wax Wings that almost felt like Radin’s own inner ambitions had lost their edge. That album had far too many songs that felt like they were following a template, and many fell flat, with one exception: “Beautiful Day.” Fortunately, that’s been ameliorated.
Radin has reconnected with whatever it was he needed to in order to deliver an outstanding album with Onward and Sideways. But make no mistake — this isn’t exactly the Radin of old. Radin has grown as a songwriter and musician, and his music doesn’t feel like he’s exactly where he once was. This album is a progression in mood.
With all 13 tracks falling at less than four minutes, this album is a shorter, succinct piece of lyrical and acoustic art. There isn’t much to be found on the darker, brooding side of things, but that doesn’t present a problem when there are songs like the revised “Beautiful Day,” this time featuring Sheryl Crow. But it’s the second half of the album that’s laden with the lyrical heavy hitting tracks like “Blow Away,” “Worlds Apart,” “One and Only,” and “Old Friend.”
Perhaps the album’s title is fitting. With Onward and Sideways Radin has renewed himself and corrected the path that he was on with Wax Wings.
