I was given this album by my college roommate last year. He dated a girl from Vermont, and when he went to visit her they went to see Anais Mitchell perform. He immediately bought her album and played it for me. It froze me. Her voice was enchanting and alluring, calling everyone withing earshot to come and listen.
"Hymns for the Exiled" is Anais Mitchell's second album. On it are songs ranging in topic from the loss of a dear friend to American domestic policy to family heirlooms. The album begins with "Before the Eyes of Storytelling Girls," a sweet serenade calling on her mother and grandmother to comfort her. Her guitar playing, while not revoultionary, is enchanting and her voice is unadulterated.
I won't review each song, but I will go through a couple real standouts. "1984" is a very clever allusion to George Orwell's masterpiece novel. It describes current American policies and likens them to the totalitarian rule of BIG BROTHER, with the refrain referring to Prince's "1999." The guitar part is cyclical and hypnotizing. "Orion" is a gutwrenching eulogy to a musician friend. The lyrics flow like insence, as if a prayer rising to the heavens. The song is bursting with emotion, yet her vocal performance is painfully restrained, making it all the more gripping. "Quecreek Flood" recalls aflood that cripples a working coal town and the politics and media manipulation that surrounds such events.
Her delivery, her guitar playing, her vocal stylings, all evoke an old-timey American folk vibe, yet her refernece to current events and her accessibliity update her and make her extremely potent. If you like folk music, topical songs, or even just beautiful female vocalists, this really is a must-have.
1 Bumps | Bump |
