Newsom belongs to a line of idiosyncratic visionary female artists stretching from Joni Mitchell to Kate Bush through Björk and beyond. Her song structures are not always something you’d walk around humming, but her lyric style and expertise with harp and piano mark her as a true original. The closer, “Time, as a Symptom,” even uses mourning dove calls to color her composition. Her unique (read “acquired taste”!) voice has grown supple as her arrangements, which are often folk-based and are transformed into genuine works of art. Other standouts include “Anecdotes,” “You Will Not Take My Heart Alive” and “Waltz of the 101st Lightborne.”
Score: 8 out of 10
Joanna Newsom
Divers
Drag City Records
Producers: Steve Albini and Noah Georgeson
