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 (Spunk/EMI)
A record from a parallel universe where “accessible” ≠ “sell-out”
Even hardcore Joanna Newsom fans would be forgiven for being a little worried about this album: three CDs, 18 tracks, most of them around eight minutes long. After all, Newsom’s previous album, 2006’s critically-acclaimed monolith Ys, only needed five tracks on one disc to feel full to the point of bursting. Fortunately, then, Have One On Me is in no way Ys II: Three-Disc Special Edition. On Colleen, from her Ys Street Band EP, Newsom ‘fessed up to having over-egged the pudding with Ys, leading to a creative rut. She’s learnt her lesson from those difficult times, so the differences between Have One On Me and Ys are immediate: an idiomatic English expression for the title versus a mythical Breton city’s name; a photo of a lounging Newsom on the cover as opposed to a stiffly formal Pre-Raphaelite portrait; a much more sparing use of instrumentation, and not so much focus on the harp, evident from the opening chords of the piano-driven first track, Easy. Of course, we’re still talking about Joanna Newsom, here, and that cover photo is crammed with rococo detail, as are the songs, which still eschew traditional structures. But even on harp-heavy tracks like ’81, this is less Fairport Convention redux as something more akin to Joni Mitchell: great songwriting delivered without regard to fashion and with completely idiosyncratic sincerity. What Have One On Me accomplishes, then, is that rare feat of artistic progress that renders a difficult sound more accessible without compromising its integrity. Those turned off by Ys should listen to Have One On Me and reconsider their opinion of Newsom (it’s worth noting here that Newsom’s voice has rounded out in the past four years); needless to say, existing converts will find a wealth of treasures inside.
****½
CHAD PARKHILL
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