Album Review: Joanna Newsom - Have One On Me

Joanna Newsom has been called a lot of things since The Milk-Eyed Mender (2004) made such a divisive impact on the music world with her child-like singing and old-language lyricism. Freak-folk, acid-folk, new-folk, folk-pop, new-Appalachian, on and on, again and again, she's been given titles that have created a certain level of division between what she believes she is and what the world thinks of her. But let me just say it - in comparison to her previous efforts, Have One On Me is essentially the one that might be most described as a pop record. Surely, Newsom is still a chanteuse at her harp but Have One On Me works well to move away from the perceptions about her that she has shown frustration about in interviews throughout her career. She draws together many influences and styles - traditional folk and a smattering of gospel amongst them - but things aren't as steeped with the rigidity that was seen within her previous full length Ys (2006).

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