Divers

Y'know what I'm just gonna say it.. it's her second best! Now that I've gotten your attention I'm going to attempt to put into words what's so special about this near-masterpiece, and why I think that it deserves more appreciation than it gets. Let's start with the obvious, the songwriting here is fucking outstanding. Joanna Newsom was really not an artist that needed to prove herself any further as a brilliant songwriter to me but she just keeps blowing me away with every release of hers! She really has such a knack for creating beautiful images in your head through just lyricism. On top of this, this thing is a delight instrumentally. Divers did exactly what I was hoping it would going into it; it boiled down the already amazing sound of Have One on Me into something a lot more digestible, concise, and (in my opinion) enjoyable. Because of the much more concise runtime I felt completely engaged and engrossed in the world of Divers from start to finish, and that 50 minutes feels a lot more like 30. Also, I mean... do I really need to tell you at this point that Joanna Newsom is a phenomenal singer? 'Cause I mean... she is. One of the best I've ever heard. But this is nothing new. Her voice is simply impeccable throughout this entire LP, and taking that and mixing it in with all the other brilliant qualities of this astounding work, and you have a record that I can comfortably say I thoroughly adore, and of course, like any great album, it ends on its highest note.

favorite tracks - Time, As a Symptom
least favorites - uhh