Martyn Joseph - Whoever It Was That Brought Me Here Will Have To Take Me Home - Music & Performance - CD

Although it's been close to a decade since the U.S.

heard a new album by Welsh singer-songwriter Martyn Joseph, it's not as if he's been hibernating.

During that time, he's toured the UK, Canada and Europe tirelessly, recorded more than a half dozen CDs, many for his own label, and his involvement in international charity causes recently won him an Amnesty International award.

In February 2004, he was named 'Male Solo Artist of the Year' in the official Welsh Music Awards.

Martyn has been described in two of England's most influential music magazines as 'One of acoustic music's most original voices' (Q) and 'An artist of enduring worth' (Mojo).

Joseph says of 'Whoever It Was...,' his first Appleseed release and first new studio CD in five years, 'I'd made a number of political points on various projects in the last few years, and this record just began to form in a more reflective way.' So rather than dwell on the specific, his themes here are universal - love and it's bittersweet realities, the need for personal activism and hope despite the limitations of human nature - and winningly conveyed by his strong, yearning vocals and intimate acoustic accompaniment.

Unlike his five highly-produced Top 50 British chart hits and two CDs on the Sony label in the early '90s, Martyn opted for minimal production on 'Whoever It Was...,' in a successful attempt to capture the passion and edge of his memorable live shows.