Joanna Newsom – Divers (2015)

Joanna Newsom's music is something truly special. There aren't many other artists or bands in this millennium that would have such a personal sound. Newsom plays the harp and sings with vocals comparing to Kate Bush. Most of her songs are long and filled with dreamlike fantasy music filled with orchestral instruments and sounds of nature. I first fell in love with her music by listening to Ys, which I still think is her greatest album. Divers was released only three years ago, but it bears a special significance for me, because this was the album that was released before I finally saw Newsom live here in London, at Hammersmith Apollo. Her live performance only strengthened my appreciation for her. The way she used the harp both as a rhythm and melodic instrument was truly impressive. Also, she had just as fantastic vocals live as she has on the albums.



Divers is, in my opinion, Newsom's second best album right after Ys. I didn't care for the massive three CD album Have One On Me as much. Some of the magic was missing from that album and the length was too much to appreciate the album as one whole. Divers has excellent songs that embrace the fantasy and fairytale lands. The album cover is a perfect illustration of the kind of music you might expect.

The album begins with an airy song Anecdotes that has some movie-style classical sequences as well as Newsom's trademark storytelling lines. It's a great opening to the album. This song is followed by Sapokanikan that has playful saloon sounds and piano in the lead. There are some oriental melody structures in the middle parts with some excellent flute playing. Next up is Leaving the City, which sounds like a song from a musical. There are some electronic instruments in the song that are not very common in Newsom tracks. These kind of make it sound a bit more like Kate Bush. Goose Eggs starts with a harpsichord making it sound like a proper rococo piece. It evolves into a playful Americana song with some electric guitars and even drums. Waltz of the 101st Lightborne features some lighter vocals in the beginning until they rise again to insane heights. I like the slight sea shanty style aesthetics in the song along with some forest flutes and authentic violins. The Things I Say sounds kind of like an intermission song in the middle of the album. There are similarities to children's lullabies. Then it's time for the album's masterpiece, the absolutely fantastic title-track Divers, which raises the hairs in my back and gives me the shivers from the first notes once again. There's something truly magical about this song. It's most like the songs on Ys on this album featuring multiple parts and interplay of quiet and loud. Some Old Man has some true Americana sounds with a banjo and country-style melodies. it's like a fairytale version of an old blues song. You Will Not Take My Heart Alive shows some of Newsom's best skills in both the harp and in vocals. There are some strange chamber music bits in this song as well. A Pin-Light Bent is one of the most beautiful songs on the album because it keeps the instrumentation to the minimum and there's an eerie melancholic tone to the song. The album ends with Time, As a Symptom, which is a piano song stripped of most studio technique allowing Newsom to just show her voice and piano as they would sound like if they were playing next to you in a room.

If the music alone can take you into a far-away land of fairytales, the music videos only enhance that effect. The music video for Divers is amazingly beautiful fantasy that shows Newsom singing the song amongst the stormy clouds like some kind of God. The clouds keep changing colours according the fluctuations in the music. The scenery looks a bit like Mordor.

If I haven't convinced you of Newsom's brilliance already, I suggest you look at the list of instruments she plays on this album herself: harp, piano, Roland Juno-106, Minimoog, Schiedmayer celesta, Marxophone, Mellotron (MK II and M400), Wurlitzer electric piano, Neupert clavichord, Fender Rhodes piano with bass, Baldwin electric harpsichord, Baldwin Discoverer electronic organ, Estey pump organ and guitaret.

I've listened to Joanna Newsom for about ten years now, but whenever I put one of her albums on I'm more and more convinced that she's one of the greatest songwriters and musicians out there. I seriously can't name that many other artists who would sound as extraordinary as she does.

Listen to the album on Youtube.