Review Summary: Beautifully executed folk/indie album that is as amazing as it is avante garde.
Joanna Newsom is one amazing talented artist. The music that she creates here is moving and passionate and free. There's been times where I've some couldn't get used to her voice but about 90% of people I've shown this album to fall in love with it and her voice instantaneously. Imagine clean vocal style that is like Mary Poppins and Bjork combined. There's also a jazzy style to her vocals as well which tend to jump instantaneously from singing to talking to octave skips and it just gets better.
The music here is a perfect balance of classical/folk and indie. The styles share the spotlight almost evenly. I really appreciate the musical passages here as they are just executed very well. There are so many techniques used to drive the mood of the album up. Such as in "Monkey and Bear" that is both happy and depressive, yet deep feeling. The blend of strings and piano/harp takes you through an amazing and visualative journy beyond what I've ever felt before.
The music here is very formless too like water. Tempos and emotional sections take form and transition so perfectly you will never twitch, I guarantee it. Monkey and Bear contains some obscure chordings towards the latter part of the track which fit so perfectly, its both fun and mysterious, and enchanting like wolves eyes gazing upon its pride-land. Then at times you will feel like you're in a movie, its really weird but so gratifying.
"Sawdust and Diamonds" really brings out the vocals and puts them up for display. The bjork'esq falsettos and run-arounds are perfect above a harp apregio chord that builds layers as the lyrics take us through journeys in depth. The approach Joanna uses is so fresh I can't say it enough. Imagine all those albums u must listen to that have generic structures. That's why you should check this. I highly recommend this album to everybody.
