This EP of two re-recorded numbers and one new rollicking folk song will tide Ys fans over for her next record and maybe bridge the gap between Joanna Newsom‘s folk style and more contemporary music.
Joanna Newsom’s music is pretty inaccessible. For one thing, she plays the harp and uses other traditional instruments on her records, alienating a large number of Indie music fans. She also sounds like Lisa Simpson on helium. The only new song on this EP, “Colleen”, may be a plea with the holdouts, though; she seems to say “Hey, I know I play the harp, but I can write songs you can dance to, too!” It’s a nice way to kick of this EP, and makes my mouth water for her follow-up to last year’s spectacular Ys.
The remaining two songs are re-workings from previous records. “Clam, Crab, Cackle, Cowrie” is from Walnut Wales, her first self-released recording, and The Milk-Eyed Mender, her first LP. The arrangement is basically the same stripped-down harp-based tune. The last song is a much longer and wilder version of “Cosmia,” the final cut on Ys. What was already a 7-minute (actually the shortest song on Ys) epic has been sprawled out to 13, and what was once a low-key (nearly) solo number is now a full-band epic.
B+
I like both of her most recent releases. The EP is pretty damn good, though. I like the band-backing a little more than the orchestration. Both are excellent, though.
Really tried to get into her – I love the music (whcih seems to be most people’s problem!) but just can’t warm to her voice.