Released 01/03/10
Drag City Records
Finally the Joanna Newsom shaped hole in my heart has been filled once again, with the release of her new LP Have One on Me. After weeks of watching youtube clips of new songs and live performances wondering where Miss Newsom had gone I stumbled across an article on the internet super highway telling me that her new album is going to be no less than 3 discs of unadulterated harpy goodness.... cue jaw hitting the floor.
After hearing this I was overjoyed but also dubious, after Y's came out in 2006 everyone knew that Joanna Newsom was not one to shy away from a challenge, but would 2 hours of new material stand up to the test?
As soon as you open up the case and see the artwork there is an almost unrecognisable face looking back at you. Miss Newsom is a girl no more, gone are the cute elfin looks from her Milk Eyed Mender days and instead sits a beautiful siren. It’s not only her looks that have matured; from the first listen of opener 'Easy' her Marmite vocal style that has split listeners down the middle for years seems softer and more focused. Although her voice has definitely grown there are still the little vocal imperfections that make her music and style so recognisable. At one point during the beautiful '81’ she sounds as if she’s fighting off the urge to sneeze.
Listening to the lyrics her writing seems a lot more open and honest; there are still moments of fantasy and magic with whimsical stories of Dragons and Daddy Long Legs, but in general she seems to have made her lyrics more poetic, human and heart breaking.
“I found a little plot of land in the Garden of Eden, it was dirt and dirt is all the same”
The album itself is a mixed bag of shorter conventional “pop” songs and 10 minute long orchestral epics. Have One on Me blends both the styles form her earlier efforts; using the shorter moments as a musical interlude to break up the more challenging songs. The arrangements on this album are not as obvious as Van Dyke Parks orchestral powered Ys; instead the arrangements are used to complement Joanna’s voice and song writing, the best example of this being the haunting electric guitar and pounding drums in the last third of the rousing 'Baby Birch'.
As beautiful as this album is it doesn’t really flow like I feel an album should do. Instead Have One on Me feels more like a collection of songs from her past 3 years that have been stitched together by some internet pirate. But it must be said Lady Newsom gets a well deserved tip of the cap to have come up with two hours worth of material that is so consistent; there are no fillers on this album but it just feels more like a mixtape than an LP. Have One on Me is an album to dip in and out of at your pleasure, and to find new hidden beauties with every listen. Saying that, if you do listen to the album all the way through, there are a lot worse ways to spend 180 minutes.
Posted In Album Reviews, Mar 11 2010.
Words - Si Edwards