Newsom flourishes on new triple LP

When it was announced that classically-trained harpist and off-kilter songwriter Joanna Newsom would be following up "Ys," her five song, 55-minute long metaphorically autobiographical record featuring a 29-piece orchestra with a two-hour long triple LP, fans and critics everywhere were more than little wary. But that's exactly what she's done with her latest release for Drag City records, "Have One On Me."


Even more astonishing: "Have One On Me" is even better, more triumphant and more assured than its ambitious predecessor. It's Newsom's opus—a record that, despite its delicate construction and elaborate instrumentation, sounds absolutely effortless. Each of its 18 tracks captures the essence of pure beauty, and the record finds Newsom so comfortable in her oddball singer-songwriter skin—squeaky voice and all—it almost sounds farcical.

It's also the funniest record she's ever recorded, but her humor is black and dry and so sophisticated it takes a couple of listens to every track to realize she's making jokes atop her harp- and piano-driven songs.


The first (and probably best) joke on the record comes during the first of five bridges in "Good Intentions Paving Company," when Newsom casually breaks hearts with the one-liner: "I said to you honey, ‘Just open your heart' / but I have trouble just opening a honey jar." It's the kind of lyrical gag that has defined the careers of indie bands like WHY? and The Mountain Goats, but coming from Newsom, the humor just becomes devastatingly honest and humanizing. No longer writing prophetically and cryptically, she now sounds like a well-traveled and well-spoken poet, a voice for the latest generation of tortured intellectuals the world over.


"Have One On Me" also finds Newsom exploring the limits of her sound; her classical roots still shine through on most of the tracks, but her music is now tinged with elements of minimalism, free jazz and experimental noise. Opener "Easy" ambles listlessly along like a drunken dive bar piano performance; spiraling nine-minute epic "Kingfisher" explodes at every chorus with almost kitschy symphonic flourishes; and album closer "Does Not Suffice" dissolves into the atmosphere with a string quartet harmonizing tremolos in a way that recalls James Blackshaw's "Stained Glass Windows" or Radiohead's "Pyramid Song."


But Newsom's songwriting on "Have One On Me" is synthetic, not imitative. She isn't wearing her influences on her sleeve; rather Newsom shows she has an impeccable ear for music and a knack for interpolation and innovation.


If the record's lyrical subject matter is less immediate than Newsom's narratives were on "Ys" and her debut "The Milk-Eyed Mender," it's only because the four years she's spent touring and writing since "Ys" has refined her voice from her former trademark quaver into something awfully close to conventionally pretty. Whereas on Newsom's past efforts her ambitious lyrics were delivered melodically but out of tune, her puzzle piece lyrics on "Have One On Me" are even more difficult to decipher now that most are sung dramatically in intricate and irresistible hooks.


Before the album's release, many fans and critics worried Newsom's latest project was overambitious, but somehow she's managed to harness all of her best musical traits into one of the most dazzling folk releases of all time. Not a single note is out of place on the album, and she grounds its epic span with a confident nonchalance uncommon to even some of the most veteran folk singers like Bob Dylan and Emmylou Harris. If the current generation of music lovers is allowed one legend like Dylan was for the ‘60s, "Have One On Me" makes a strong contention for Newsom to be that iconic figure.

Matthew may be reached at copy@su-spectator.com