Search - Joanna Newsom :: Ys

An Open Window . . .

Joel S. Schneider | San Francisco | 03/14/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

""Ys" is a brilliant, poetic work that puts you in touch with the supernatural wonder contained in the natural world. The first thing I did was read the words - page after page of real poetry. The words stand alone and reveal a profound feeling for language. They are wonderful poems - full of wordplay and mysterious imagery. After that I listened to the recording all the way through while reading the words off the booklet. It was incredibly rich, obviously eccentric, lyrical and ancient sounding - almost on the edge of madness - but in a gorgeous way. I found the effect a little overwhelming - all the music, all the words and coming through that unique, unsettling voice of Joanna Newsom. I then listened to the recording again but this time I didn't read the words off the written page

- I just sat back and soaked it in. On the second listening, without the distraction of reading, it really opened up for me. "Ys" has almost an Alice In Wonderland effect, but with a romantic longing for transcendence. In this case, seemingly a transcendence through connecting with nature. To appreciate "Ys" you have to let go of rationality - just allow yourself to be pulled into the undertow. There is much of a symbolic nature to uncover since the depth of the music, the words and Newsom's delivery act like a mirror held up to the psyche. I found that after listening to it again I began to feel at home in its otherworldly worldliness - the worldliness of terra firma, of nature, as seen from the perspective of the spirit world. It made me imagine myself a ghost visiting the beautiful valleys and woods where I had once walked, but now from a timeless perspective, seeing it from a heightened reality. Its a beautiful piece of work and Van Dyke Parks enrichens it greatly with his evocative orchestrations. Like many works of art that plumb mythic depths and don't draw within the lines of convention, this recording will probably be greeted by some with an immediate sense of revulsion, while others will open up to it and experience wonder. Its not "normal", of course, so some people will give it the knee-jerk label of "crazy". Thats too bad because its an open window into the imagination, and, in this case, not a frightening one but one that seems to welcome you in.



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