Joanna Newsom - Have One On Me

In 2006, upon the release of her sumptuously produced album Ys, Joanna Newsom was hailed by critics as one of the most original members of the American music scene. Four years later a rather cryptic comic strip was posted online depicting a woman with a dwarf hidden underneath her dress entitled Have One On Me. Little did we know that this signalled the sudden emergence of her newest project which would be her most ambitious one to date with her ditching her thesaurus and tackling some sounds alien even to her.

One thing that needs to be appreciated about Joanna Newsom is that in both music and image, everything has its own meaning. The cover of Have One On Me sees her indulging in a new image of a flapper surrounded by a clutter of various regalia such as a stuffed peacock, masks and leopard print stools. When comparing this to the richness of her previous covers it seems to scream the taking of a new direction with the tackling of as many multiple influences as the objects surrounding this lounging singer. Similar attention needs to be paid to her choice to release this on three discs when it could have easily fitted on two. This tactic mirrors one of Kate Bush’s Aerial as a means of lessening the load on the listener who could either choose to listen to one disc at a time or all two hours in full.

When tackling such a musical leviathan, the temptation is to address it in terms of the constituent discs since, in essence, they are all albums in themselves and as such are organised in such a fashion as to warrant separate listening. For those who are new to Joanna Newsom or take issue with her voice (and many do occupy the latter option), the best introduction to her as an artist is the first of the three discs. Not only is her voice at her tamest but this also sketches out all of the influences she will be deriving from for the remainder of the album.

The beautifully tender opener ‘Easy’ sees her ditch the harp (shocking for someone who painted their fame as slightly eccentric harpist) and deliver an extremely heartfelt and accomplished vocal performance over the lush backing of brass and strings. This gives way to the 11 minute title track that makes easy work of tackling the multitude of influences that pepper her album as a whole. Special mention however goes to the tracks ‘Good Intentions Paving Company’ and ‘'81’ which stand as some of her most beautiful songs to date, with the former acting as the closest she will ever get to radio friendly material, her original take on a love song.

After such a stunning opener Newsom delves deeper and deeper inside herself to deliver the next 12 songs. However, with such an album length it really is nearly impossible to take it all in at once without feeling overwhelmed. This is a shame as the third and final disc retains some of the more complicated work on the album where the harp reigns supreme on her attempts to assume the role of 21st century minstrel. Among these ‘Kingfisher’ stands a touchstone to her previous masterpiece Ys (albeit with a simpler production) and establishes Newsom as an artist unlike any of her peers in both her scope and lyrical mastery.

Have One On Me may not be everyone’s idea of a great album which speaks to the great polarising power of both her voice and chosen genre. However, with multiple listens the stand-out tracks do increase greatly until each are appreciated for their own strengths and beauty. Some may say that by releasing so much material in one go she may have overextended herself, and with the middle album being comparatively weaker than those around it they may be correct, but it takes guts to release an album such as this and for the sheer repeat value she can consider her mission accomplished. Whether this can win her a bountiful supply of new fans remains to be seen.

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