t has been a chaotic weekend here at the magazine, but as always, we head onwards and upwards! My musical journey today takes me to a musician with a metal past who is currently dancing to a rather different tune. This one landed in my inbox, and I’m looking forward to giving it a listen!
Artist Bio.
Joe Lengson cut his teeth in the music business playing in the Alabama-based Tooth & Nail/Solid State Christian metal band MyChildren MyBride. The band toured worldwide, appeared on numerous music television shows and landed on the Billboard Top 200.
In 2010, Lengson wrote “Sleeping in Parking Lots,” a book documenting his travels while touring the globe. After declining an offer to host his own MTV music video programme in 2012, he left the metal band and turned his attention towards developing what would become the music of The Woodsman’s Babe.
The resulting indie folk tunes proved to be a source of catharsis for the artist, offering a new creative freedom and an opportunity to explore music he felt he had been suppressing while immersed in the metal world.
In 2018, Lengson returned to composing and recording, this time concentrating on piano-based music specifically tailored for film, television and commercials.
Then came another musical direction. In 2020, he began writing material for a new project, originally conceived around capturing the sounds of the 1980s and 1990s country music he had grown up listening to. The Henry Joseph project was born, with its demos recorded at Mondrian Studios in North Hollywood in early 2020. Following touring opportunities with country artists Randy Houser, Cody Johnson and Tracy Lawrence, Lengson took the next step towards establishing his own country music identity. An EP followed, recorded in Nashville in 2024 with Skyler Taylor.
My Review
“I Know You’re Leaving”
Released earlier in 2026 and available across streaming platforms, this single takes us a considerable distance from those hardcore metal venues of the past. With bags packed and the engine running, what we have here is an uplifting country-pop groove, albeit with a rather sad lyrical theme as the one you love prepares to leave.
There is an unmistakable eighties guitar flavour, a strong melodic hook and plenty of positive musical energy. It’s an interesting combination: a bittersweet subject delivered with a sound that makes you want to turn up the volume rather than reach for the tissues!
“Goodnight Goodbye”
I also took the opportunity to explore a couple of other tracks, and this one was a particularly enjoyable discovery. It’s a neat, feel-good country number that has already slipped onto my playlist. Once again, we find ourselves contemplating the end of a relationship (I hope this isn’t becoming a pattern for the poor chap!), but the melody is so infectious that I can easily imagine this finding a home on commercial country daytime radio.
It’s also an excellent singalong companion while I’m doing the cooking. And that’s a compliment, because I take my listening very seriously in the kitchen! Playing it for a second time, I found myself enjoying it even more.
“Down Home Girl”
Here we have a little storytelling, a little attraction and a rather appealing Sunday morning atmosphere. It’s a song that encourages you to sway along, with an easy-going charm that doesn’t need to make a great deal of fuss. I can imagine this being played late at night, perhaps with a drink or two, when life’s simpler pleasures come into focus.
The Verdict
There’s something rather refreshing about an artist who has travelled such different musical roads. From the intensity of Christian metal to indie folk, piano composition and now country, Joe Lengson has certainly not been afraid to explore his creative instincts.
HENRY’s music has an accessible, melodic quality, drawing on the country sounds of the eighties and nineties while embracing a more contemporary country-pop sensibility. “I Know You’re Leaving” provides an enjoyable introduction, but my exploration of “Goodnight Goodbye” and “Down Home Girl” suggests there is more to discover here.
Sometimes a change of musical direction is exactly what an artist needs. And if the result is a collection of songs that find their way onto your playlist — and into your kitchen singalongs — that’s surely no bad thing!
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Stream music from HENRY here
By Lorraine Foley
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