Divers

I was recently offered a ticket to see Joanna Newsom at the Dome, only the second night of a tour that would see her performing live for the first time in three years. For some time this unique artist has been on the periphery of my attention, I was intrigued but could never quite decide if I was going to be a fan or not. There's something incredibly distinctive about what she does, of course it's the high-pitched vocals you notice first but the instrumentation is also very different from what we are used to hearing in contemporary music. This concert was going to be the make or break moment for me: I often find in live performances we can truly discover what it is that we love, or hate about a certain artist. Thankfully I was gratefully mesmerised throughout the show and left with a hunger to discover more – her unusual choice of instruments, arrangements and poetic lyrics all lend themselves to deeper inspection, so I thought I'd make her latest album Divers my starting point, as this material made up most of the setlist at the show.The album begins with 'Anecdotes' followed by 'Sapokanikan', two songs that clearly made an impression upon me in the live show for they sounded like old friends when I heard them in the context of the album. 'Anecdotes' benefits from the additional strings on the recording, with their help the second half of the song turns into a truly magical fairy-tale experience. There are lots of military references in the dense, complex lyrics which conjur up, for me, a squad of soldiers lost somewhere on some battlefield, frightened for their lives and painfully aware of their own mortality. 'Sapokanikan' was the first single to be taken from the album, named after a Native American village which used to sit on the lower half of Manhattan Island, approximately where Grenwich Village is now. The song begins with a jolly enough sounding stripped back piano with hints of ragtime that breaks into cascades of twinkling notes and false builds with what sounds like keyboard brass. The song ends with a pair of voices singing in harmony that reach for ever higher heights, building tension and emotion, giving way to a gentler section with accompanying pan-pipes, perhaps representing the Native American villagers of the songs title.The first section of 'Leaving The City' sounds like it could have been written for the Tudor court, and uses another synthetic brassy sound for tension – big wide keyboard notes that build to fill the space before an almost hip-hop beat comes in and carries the song forward, another beautiful bit of arrangement. 'Goose Eggs' has some great little unexpected bluesy bending electric guitar licks which combine with the baroque arpeggios and harpsichord to great effect – the medieval and 70s blues rock making for surprisingly good bed partners. 'Waltz Of The 101st Lightbourne' is full of lovely folksy violin lines, twisting up and down their melodies, and some clever drumming, providing the perfect amount of momentum to support the song. With 'The Things I Say' Joanna strips things down a step, leaving vocal and piano alone for most of the track before her voice sneaks off into the distance, disappearing in a puff of reverb smoke as heavily effected sounds rise up to fill the space - reversed vocals, samples and studio trickery creating an unusual and luscious crescendo that builds to an abrupt stop.The title song 'Divers' is painfully beautiful, sad, thoughtful and full of loss. There's an almost Far-Eastern feel to the complex harp arpeggios and chords that sing on top of the piano, which carries the song along. It is full of space but once again defies expectation, most song-writers would leave that opening section alone and repeat it, for fear of breaking up the intimacy with complexity, but Joanna Newsom thrives in this arena. Those unexpected blue notes in the following section really make the song and you have to respect her ability to take the listener on a journey rather than lock them in a mood. 'Same Old Man' follows sounding like some old prairie song with it's softly plucked banjo, lilting melody and sweet harmony. Somewhere in amongst the classic sounds of the Americana songbook I'm sure I can make out a low analogue synth rumbling. 'You Will Not Take My Heart Alive' puts the focus on the harp and vocal, which actually sounds a little too much like it could be the backing track to some online fantasy Role Playing Game to me, but the titular refrain, where the music strips down and she repeates that phrase with powerful emotion, manages to rescue things a little, although I'd say this is probably my least favourite track on the record.'A Pin-Light Bent' was the first song of Newsom's encore at the recent Dome set, performed solo, and it is an amazing piece. The harp really comes to life on this one, one moody motif repeats throughout while plucked chords ascend expressively on top and, on this recording, a few soft piano chords provide a floor. The album closes with 'Time, As A Symptom' whose refrain of, "the nullifying, defeating, negating, repeating joy of life" is perhaps the most chorus-like moment on the album. It's a hook! And it's glorious when this track builds from it's early steps as just piano and vocal (weirdly accompanied by what sounds like a hooting owl), to a dense orchestral arrangement propelled by the drums of Joanna's brother Pete and some amazing horns which remind me of some of my favourite moments in Sigur Ros's earlier output. My only criticism would be that, even at five and a half minutes, it feels like it could go on for longer. But then I am told, by those who know her work better than I, that this is a feature of her fourth record – the song structures are shorter and so, perhaps, this is a very good place to start for the uninitiated.Her lyrics are fascinating and that voice, while it may be a little challenging at first to ears untuned to it, really has the power to move you emotionally. The harp is such a complex and beautiful instrument it's wonderful that an artist like Newsom is out there, exploring the possibilities it holds and bringing them to our attention. She is one of those rare complete artists; producing, writing and performing most of the music you hear on Divers and taking us to places few would dare musically or lyrically – but really it is the familiar sounds of American folk and Blues that came as the biggest surprise to me. They permeate the album in wonderful ways, grounding it to a friendly place when I was fearing I could get lost in some sort of neo-classical density. Divers is a wonderful album that I imagine I will return to often for those dark nights of introspection as we fall into the winter months. If you haven't tried listening to her yet I would say Joanna Newsom is worth the time invested in discovery.

We're in masterpiece territory here. 'Divers' is as rewarding, involving and immersive an album as anything that's been released this year.First of all, the songwriting is jaw-droppingly brilliant. Newsom is not so much a lyricist as a full-fledged poet. Her words really do stand up on the page as poems (much more so than, say, Bob Dylan's, whose lyrics very seldom work as straight poetry once they're separated from the music and the performance).If you read these poems - and they are wonderful poems - before hearing the album, you'll wonder how they could ever be set to music. But Newsom succeeds brilliantly here as well. Her piano, harp and mellotron playing creates a magical, ethereal backdrop, with splashes of colour coming from recorder, strings, a trombone or two.. and even the occasional intrusion of electric guitar and drums. The musical territory this maps out is somewhere between the baroque folk sound of a Sufjan Stevens and the spooky sensuousness of a Kate Bush, with a dash of the mystical wildness of Robin Williamson's weirder wig-outs with the Incredible String Band, but it's also something that's unmistakably of Newsom's own.Within this setting, Newsom's unique voice unwinds long, sinuous tendrils of melody that after a few listens lock themselves down into the kind of hooks that just won't leave you alone. There's still an edge of harshness to Newsom's voice that might sound a little grating at first, but the girlishness of previous albums has gone: this is a voice that can be a tough as a knife scraping on bone but that can resolve itself in a second into moments of heart-melting tenderness. I don't think her vocals have ever sounded better, and they lend real authority and power to these intense, meditative, philosophical songs. When you put together the utterly committed vocal performance, the lush and delicately-textured music (produced, unbelievably, by Steve Albini!) and the stunningly good lyrics, it's hard to say this is anything other than a work of complete genius.The physical CD, by the way, is a beautiful thing, with (randomly) a nice picture of Joanna and a parrot inside the gatefold, and is well worth having for the sake of the well-produced lyric booklet - without it, it's much harder to get a grip on the album's allusive and complex imagery.

Can only echo some of the sentiments expressed previously. Been a fan for a while but where 'Y's' and Have One On Me showed promise and glimpses of greatness, this album is the culmination of those promising efforts. More focussed, more song structure and extra instrumentation with Banjos, penny whistle, flute and synth layering adding to the mix.Had the pleasure of seeing her live at Hammersmith in November and can only say, all of the above is in addition to the multi instrumentalism that we are accustomed to. A very 'marmite' artist, but if you get it... you get it and my personal opinion is this is a truly unique talent.Harp, piano, voice and lyrics combining in a heady mix that truly entrances the discerning listener. The 'genius' label is used lightly these days, but,, whisper it softly, in this case it might well be valid. Not to everone's taste but i will gladly pay for anything she produces.Speciàl and very very precious.

I love 'Have One on Me' so much that I was almost afraid of 'Divers' in case it disappointed me by comparison. But it's just as perfect and incredible a work of art and skill.The songs engage the listener on so many levels, enjoyable to listen to, thought-provoking, lyrical, poetic, with lots of easter eggs of interesting info/ people being referenced if you want to 'dive' a bit deeper. They are endlessly rewarding - every listen brings you something new to love and appreciate.Don't get me wrong here - these songs are NOT 'hard work' - they are beautifully crafted and hugely listen-to-able without any further effort. But I can't imagine ever becoming bored of songs that have so much depth and reward multiple listens as much as these songs do.

The yery first time I heard one of the songs, Anecdotes-I believe it was... I literally went from what in the heck is this, to that's amazing in just a brief time. I bought the cd with autorip right away. They should have more autorip options, there seems to be less of them.

El producto llegó en perfecto estado.El packaging y los vinilos llegaron intactos y se escuchaba increíble en mi tórnales a. Buena compra!

Already an enduring Newsom fan, this album did not disappoint. Definitely different from her earlier work, yet still distinctively cut from the Newsom cloth. The melodies, composition, poetry, and art work are perfectly arranged and integrated to create an exquisite body of work. Words don't do it justice, but I would implore people to listen to this album with great attention to the detailed layers of meaning and beauty.

Joanna Newsom desde aquel lejano “The Milk-Eyed Mender” (2004), completa en “Divers” (2015) una trayectoria sin resbalón. Un álbum muy estudiado y probablemente el disco más ambicioso en cuanto a producción, con guiños a sus discos anteriores todos ellos singulares. Es muy difícil sobreponerse después de firmar una obra tan inmensa como el poético triple “Have One On Me” (2010), pero ciertamente lo ha conseguido. Dotada de una voz peculiar (a veces mal entendida por algunos críticos), ya sea al arpa o al piano, Joanna Newsom es única en los tiempos que corren, ajena a modas como lo fue Joni Mitchell en su época. “Divers” es un álbum completísimo sin desperdicio y de muy fácil escucha, con dos perlas al cierre “A Pin-Light Ben” y “Time, As a Sympton”, tremendas y conmovedoras. Una auténtica maravilla.

Nehmen wir einmal an, diese Platte wäre im vorigen Jahrhundert irgendwann ab 1968 aufgenommen und veröffentlicht worden, und anno 2015 exzellent remastered wieder auf den Markt gekommen: Ich würde es im Großen und Ganzen glauben. Ich würde sagen, so etwas gab es damals, als Gigantinnen wie Laura Nyro, Sandy Denny, Joni Mitchell, Judee Sill, Kate & Anna McGarrigle und Kate Bush einige einzigartige Alben machten. Nicht jedes ihrer Alben war gigantisch, aber „New York Tendaberry“, „Sandy“, „Blue“, „Heart Food“, „Kate & Anna McGarrigle“ und „The Kick Inside“, na, da lasse ich in 40 Jahren als Hundertjähriger noch nichts darüber kommen, bitteschön! Und über die neue Platte dieser Johanna auch nichts.Dabei scheint mir Newsoms 2015er-Opus zugänglicher zu sein als ihre früheren Werke, und das steht normalerweise eher für Rückschritt, weil weniger Originalität und Wagemut. „Divers“ enthält keine ausufernden, von extrovertierter Epik geprägte Soundabenteuer wie die meisten Tracks auf ihrem großen Vorgängeralbum „Ys“, die Songs sind klar und streng strukturiert, und vor allem präzise durcharrangiert. Im Letztgenannten liegt die Qualität, die diese Platte außergewöhnlich macht: Mit sparsamen Arrangements wäre das eine schöne und stimmige Produktion geworden, aber die ungemein vielschichtigen, abwechslungsreichen, jederzeit optimal passenden und dabei niemals überladen und effekthaschend wirkenden Arrangements veredeln alles. Man nehme nur einmal „Sapokanikan“ her, wie hier das Schlagzeug wie ein Melodieinstrument die Melodiewechsel innerhalb dieses komplexen 5-Minuten-Songs akzentuiert, und diverse Instrumente (wobei ihre Harfe nicht mehr so im Vordergrund steht wie auf ihren bisherigen Platten) für ein höchst diffiziles Klangbild sorgen. Selbst an und für sich simple Folksongs wie „Leaving The City“ und „Same Old Man“ gewinnen durch diese Vielzahl und Vielfalt von Instrumenten immens. Und das Spinett bei „Goose Eggs“ … ach, man könnte dazu bei jedem Track etwas schreiben, was die Orchestration betrifft.Bliebe noch ein Instrument zu erwähnen, das Newsoms größtes Kapital ist: ihre Stimme! Man weiß es seit einem halben Jahrhundert im Zusammenhang mit Bob Dylan, seit fast so langer Zeit auch schon durch Neil Young oder Lou Reed, und welcher wirklich große Rockvokalist (Captain Beefheart, Van Morrison, Iggy Pop, Freddie Mercury, Robert Wyatt und und und … und um auf die eingangs erwähnten Frauen zurück zu kommen: Laura Nyro und Kate Bush!) war und ist nicht irgendwie umstritten, dass sich bei deren Stimmen die Geister scheiden? Na und? Newsoms Stimme mag ungewöhnlich und beim ersten Hören gewöhnungsbedürftig sein, aber keine andere Frau auf diesem Planeten könnte ihre Songs so singen, um nicht zu sagen performen wie sie. So wie unzweifelhafte Rockalben-Meilensteine wie „Highway 61 Revisited“, „Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere“, „Trout Mask Replica“ und „Astral Weeks“ (um ein paar der Obengenannten zu zitieren) mit anderen Sängern nicht das wären, was sie sind. Und ich liebe Newsoms Stimme (und wenn hier wer geschrieben hat, sie klinge wie eine angefahrene Katze … nun, ich bin Katzenfreund …).Ein Album, das für mich insofern keine Höhepunkte hat, weil jeder Song ein neuer ist, und das Highlight hier genau genommen von ersten bis zum letzten Ton andauert, was bei einer Spielzeit von 51:52 mehr als respektabel ist. Konkurrenzlos und außergewöhnlich.