Singer/songwriters are abundant in the music industry and talent is everywhere. How does an artist make his mark? If your name is Joshua Path, you construct delicate melodies that serve as perfect contrasts to slightly more aggressive rock songs. Path, whose soulful delivery of lyrics is another selling point, has assembled 15 songs with enough contrast to showcase his obvious talent.
Kicking off with the title track, Path establishes his style with a thin guitar that supports his full voice. The added touch of violins, cellos and piano compliment the lyrics that deal with a subject who Path describes in the chorus as "Everything inside your heart has died / Everybody said you'd be the one / But you shine as brightly as a headlight in the sun." The crescendo to the final chorus leads to an emotional conclusion.
Following "Headlight," Path immediately wants to flex his talent. With a delicate guitar intro paving the way, the next song transitions into a Daughtry-ish rock guitar before slightly mellowing to lyrics like "I want to live in the lifetime / With you in my every day / I want to sleep in your sunchine / and dream the rest of my life away." The ultra-mellow "Spider of Love" follows a couple of tracks later, discussing a relationship with "Her name was / Her name is / Her name will be." Path is mysterious in this song and doesn't disclose the identity of the object of his affection.
The Chris Brown-ish "Cinnamon City" is amazing. There are no drums and the violins and cellos are soulfully background chatter to Path's lyrics about a female that "Goes away downtown / past the churches and the places / we would pray downtown." Contrasting that track is the next one, "Brenda Brenda," which is more upbeat and groovy courtesey of drummer Shawn Davis' thick backbeat. There are a plethora of musicians that support Path on this release and all are stellar.
As good as Path is, his style gets overbearing towards the end of this release. The moody, droopy, material in "I Am Starting To Let You Go" is played excellently, yet it seems overwhelming by the end of this release ... a little too much heartbreak at once.
This release does recover with "Heroin Will Bring Us Back Together Again," a mellow affair that encapsulates Path's appeal. The lyrics are soulful, the music is interesting, and the lyrics are intelligent, which pretty much sums up this disc. What more do you need from a musician?