(Drag City) 3CD & 3LP (!)
Wow. Little murmurs, a few web peeks & then BAM: three pieces of wax like THAT! It goes without saying that Joanna’s Ys quickly ascended the ranks of “modern classics” – it’s quietly grown & maintained an untarnished sense of purity & beauty over the last couple of years. The big question was; where does Joanna go from here? The answer has turned out to be even bigger. Have One On Me is a triple CD/LP affair & while it will take a few weeks to soak in all of its splendor, right off the bat with “Easy”, it’s a relief to hear some new tunes from Ms. Newsom. After a couple of rotations, it’s nice to hear some new arrangement ideas, with full accompaniment along on many tracks (including drums). Song lengths aren’t quite as daunting as Ys (even though they’re still 5 minutes +) & sonically the terrain is very familiar, with harp & other plucked instruments alongside piano & Newsom’s voice which seems to have made the same progressive leap from Ys that it made from The Milk-Eyed Mender. A worth of enjoyment awaits with Have One On Me – what a treat to have someone like Joanna Newsom making music in a time like this.