Joanna Newsome, Have One On Me
Posted on 24th Mar 10 by Ciara O Brien | 
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Have One On Me is the third studio release from American harpist, pianist and singer-songwriter Joanna Newsom. The album’s release date of the 23rd of February 2010 was shrouded in secrecy and knowledge of its possible existence was only revealed through a cryptically obscure comic strip a month before release. This would be an odd [...]
Have One On Me is the third studio release from American harpist, pianist and singer-songwriter Joanna Newsom. The album’s release date of the 23rd of February 2010 was shrouded in secrecy and knowledge of its possible existence was only revealed through a cryptically obscure comic strip a month before release. This would be an odd way of saying “hey I’ve made a new album” for anyone other than Newsom, for her, the comic strip somewhat defines the album in all of its obscure glory.
Joanna Newsom, Have One On Me
Have One On Me follows on from the success of Newsom’s previous offerings and, looking back on them, she has proven herself to have grown and matured into her own style.
Her first album The Milk-Eyed Mender was fresh and original, her second Ys was lavish and indulgent and this is an exploration and combination of both with the new addition of haunting gothic fantasy.
Before we start off on the wrong foot we’ll have to get right down to basics, the album is three discs long, that’s right, three discs. As tempting as it is to run away screaming when faced with this mammoth album, it’s really worth the time and Newsom rewards loyalty in her listeners. Each and every listen to the album reveals some subtle nuance or ingenious line which had before remained unnoticed. In the song Autumn she drawls in a spine-tingling whisper:
It is more of an experience than just a simple album
“Even the ghosts huddled up for warmth.”
Welcome to the strange, dark, and beautiful world of Joanna Newsom.
The refreshing thing about this two-hour trek of an album is that each disc is its own entity and can survive on its own merits. You really don’t have to listen to all of the discs together, and no-one will be harmed if you don’t listen to it in sequence. Yay! The chore-like scariness of a triple album removed in one swoop.
Have One On Me is one of those albums which, in theory, shouldn’t work. But somehow it does and its charm lies in these inherent contradictions. Newsom is more of a fantasy author than a simple musician and her quivering melodies lull you into a dream-like state where you can zone in and out without feeling that you have missed anything.
Her bardic lyrics and hippy-style melodies should jar, but somehow everything fits together perfectly. The only one slight issue is with the title track Have One On Me. Here she has created the dream-world so effectively that when it’s over you’re almost shocked to realise that you don’t in fact live in Peter Jackson’s brain and that is not a Hobbit in front of you on the bus, just a very unfortunate-looking infant.
It is an aural event which doesn’t require your intervention, but also doesn’t interfere with your existence
Newsom has been tirelessly compared to Kate Bush and it is true that in some of the tracks her voice does flare off into a Kate Bush-like wail, but she redeems herself immediately with delicate harp-playing and we’re reminded that she’s not floating about on the moors of Wuthering Heights yelling for Heathcliff.
The tracks are composed with such precision that you get the feeling that nothing, even these comparisons, is accidental in her world. Aspects of Karen Dalton and Joni Mitchell also emerge as the album plays on.
At only 28 years old, what she has created in the past and in this ornate offering, and her knowledge of the intricacies of song-writing is astonishing, and she only promises to improve further.
There are, of course stand-out tracks on each disc. On Disc One it is Good Intentions, Paving Company which shows her expert lyrical phrasing in lines like
“I do hate to fold/Right here at the top of my game.”
On Disc Two it is On a Good Day, which is a lilting bardic dream and a vision of Newsom’s own Wuthering Heights.
On Disc Three it is Kingfisher, which is a light and breezy track full of delicate contradictions and questions. At nine minutes, it feels half as long as expected.
Have One On Me is a return to musical folk roots and that, in itself, is refreshing. Here lyrics are often poems in themselves and are often epic, and always relatable.
It is more of an experience than just a simple album. It is an aural event which doesn’t require your intervention, but also doesn’t interfere with your existence, at times you zone out into Newsom’s created world and you forget that you are listening to an album. It becomes backing music for your life.
Have One On Me may not be for everyone, but it’s certainly an interesting purchase. Particularly if you’ve ever wondered what it would sound like if Kate Bush wandered into Lord of the Rings, and let’s face it…who hasn’t!?
Drop-d Rating: 9/10
Tags: Have One On Me, Joanna Newsom, Joni Mitchell, Karen Dalton, Kate Bush, Lord of the Rings, Peter Jackson, The Hobbit, Wuthering Heights