''Let's Just Be'' is the sixth studio album by

Joseph Arthur Joseph Arthur (born September 28, 1971) is an American singer-songwriter and artist from Akron, Ohio. He is best known for his solo material, and as a member of Fistful of Mercy and RNDM. Arthur has built his reputation over the years through ...

, and his first with his backing band

The Lonely Astronauts Joseph Arthur (born September 28, 1971) is an American singer-songwriter and artist from Akron, Ohio. He is best known for his solo material, and as a member of Fistful of Mercy and RNDM. Arthur has built his reputation over the years through c ...

. The album was released on April 17, 2007 in the US, and on September 3, 2007 in the UK. According to Arthur: "the philosophy of the whole record was sort of a letting go, that's why I called it ''Let's Just Be'', because it was like everything about that record ame froma

Zen Zen ( zh, t=禪, p=Chán; ja, text= 禅, translit=zen; ko, text=선, translit=Seon; vi, text=Thiền) is a school of Mahayana Buddhism that originated in China during the Tang dynasty, known as the Chan School (''Chánzong'' 禪宗), and ...

-like approach. Just letting things be how they are." ''Let's Just Be'' was released seven months after his previous album, ''

Nuclear Daydream ''Nuclear Daydream'' is the fifth full-length album by Joseph Arthur, released on September 19, 2006. It was the first release through Joseph's own record label, Lonely Astronaut Records. The album version of " Enough to Get Away" was the first ...

''. The band recorded the album in a quick stint while touring in Southern California in 2006 at Mathias Schneeberger's studio. Arthur notes that: "the idea for us was to record all of these new songs straight to tape using only 16 tracks with no reverb, sort of a back to basics like how the Stones or

Neil Young Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian-American singer and songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, joining Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Richie Fur ...

used to record. These albums are really a band effort, there was a lot of collaboration in the studio and quite a few songs on the album were co-writes."(Taken from a promo press sheet from

RED Distribution RED Music, stylized RED MUSIC, formerly RED Distribution, LLC (Relativity Entertainment Distribution) was a Sony-owned sales and marketing division that merged under The Orchard in 2017. RED previously handled releases for more than sixty i ...

) There is a standard edition and a special edition (featuring different artwork) of the album available (in the US only, released on May 15, 2007). The album version of "Diamond Ring" is featured as the B-side to the UK single of " Enough to Get Away," released August 27, 2007. The album version of "Take Me Home" is featured as the B-side to the single of " Honey and the Moon," released March 26, 2007.

Track listing

Notes

Lonely Astronaut Records Lonely Astronaut Records is a record label founded by musician Joseph Arthur, his long-time professional partner Lauren Pattenaude, and Eric Gerber. The label was created in 2006. Thus far, the label has only its founder Joseph Arthur on the rost ...

#002.

Album credits

are: **

– lead vocals (1-12, 15, 16), guitar, electric sitar (16) ** Kraig Jarret Johnson – guitar, backing and lead (14) vocals, keyboards ** Jennifer Turner – guitar, backing and lead (13) vocals **

Sibyl Buck Sibyl Buck (born May 27, 1972) is an American musician, yoga instructor, and fashion model. Biography Born in Versailles, France, Buck started her modeling career in 1992 and has worked for Yves Saint-Laurent, Chanel, Jean-Paul Gaultier, A ...

– bass, backing vocals **

Greg Wieczorek Greg Wieczorek (aka G. Wiz) is a New York City based drummer, percussionist, vocalist and songwriter. Born in Baltimore Maryland, Greg has recorded and performed internationally with: Norah Jones, Joseph Arthur, The Lonely Astronauts, The Autumn D ...

– drums, backing vocals * Produced by Joseph Arthur with The Lonely Astronauts. * Mixed by Joseph Arthur. * Recorded and engineered by Mathias Schneeberger at Donner & Blitzen Studios, Arcadia, California. * All songs mastered by Fred Kevorkian at Kevorkian Mastering, Inc. * Original artwork (ink and charcoal on arches watercolor paper) by Davies. * Photos by Cerise Leang, Joseph Arthur and Lauren Pattenaude. * Copy help by Karen Karibian. * Art direction and design by Judith Salavetz and Spencer Drate.

Demos

In December 2006, 14 new songs (recorded with the Lonely Astronauts) were placed on Joseph's website, available for free download or with a donation. The 14 tracks comprised the original track listing for ''Let's Just Be'' in this order: # "Baby's Got a New Friend" – 5:59 # "Cockteezzze" – 1:44 # "Famous Friends Along the Coast" – 5:28 # "Love" – 6:34 # "Skull Kiss" – 3:53 # "Cocaine Feet" – 4:14 # "Bust Me" – 3:05 # "Breadhead" – 4:29 # "Precious One" – 4:27 # "Take Me Home" – 4:41 # "Here Come the Spacemen" – 3:49 # "Let's Just Be" – 2:36 # "Diamond Ring" – 3:42 # "The Good Life" – 4:28 * The song "Breadhead" was conceived at the

House of Blues House of Blues is an American chain of live music concert halls and restaurants. It was founded by Isaac Tigrett, the co-founder of Hard Rock Cafe, and Dan Aykroyd, co-star of the 1980 film ''The Blues Brothers''. The first location opened at Ha ...

side stage in

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United Stat ...

during Arthur's tour for ''

''. Near the end of the concert, he began strumming a song, and told the band to play along. A few minutes later, "Breadhead" had been written and played for the first time, and Arthur said it would appear on the next album.

References

{{Authority control Joseph Arthur albums 2007 albums Lonely Astronaut Records albums