Joanna Newsom

Have One On Me (Drag City)

By Emily Anderson
Published: March 19th, 2010 | 7:00am

On her third full-length effort, Have One On Me, Joanna Newsom overcomes all the possible obstacles that may have made her previous albums a tad inaccessible to some. The crackly, idiosyncratic singing has been smoothed over and, in its place, debuts an impressive vocal range. Yes, the album itself is three discs long and Newsom’s songs are still a bit lengthy, but they’re not nearly as unwieldy as anything on Ys. The closer on the first disc, “Baby Birch,” is a sparse, slow-burning, 10-minute torch song that unravels in a way to leave you rapt from start to finish. On “In California,” the once freak-folkie Newsom channels classic folkie Joni Mitchell — and with effervescent results. Other standout tracks like the melancholy “Jackrabbits” or the sweet ‘n’ idyllic “Esme” allow Newsom to prove she can extract a timeless tune from her beloved harp in the same way the greats have been pumping out hits from a tired old piano for years.

While HOOM marks a break from the endearingly quirky The Milk-Eyed Mender and the slightly indulgent Ys, it’s by no means devoid of the flourishes that made those two albums so charming. Her latest album is certainly Newsom’s most linear and straightforward effort to date, and arguably her best. Despite its epic length, HOOM plays out like one elegant, sinuous song cycle. Regardless of where you push play or pause, you’ll come away from any part of this opus with an evocative melody or turn of phrase lodged in your brain indefinitely.

Drag City