The Boston Globe, 18 june 2004 - Joanna Newsom has found...
Posted: 01 Jun 2010, 16:00http://www.boston.com/ae/music/articles ... _folk_pop/
By Sean Glennon, Globe Correspondent | June 18, 2004
Joanna Newsom's speaking voice shouldn't take one by surprise. But it does.
The San Francisco-based singer-songwriter speaks the way she sings, in a voice that is small and innocent -- childlike, though certainly not immature. Her manner of speech is warm, friendly, inviting. It's all a bit of a shock, if only because in listening to Newsom's third CD (her first label release), "The Milk-Eyed Mender," one can't help but assume that the singer's style is something of an affectation.
It's not. Newsom says it couldn't be. The 22-year-old only knows one way to sing. "I never studied singing. I just sing the way I sing," Newsom says, laughing nervously over her cellphone during a drive across Kansas between tour stops. Her laughter reflects a self-consciousness about her lack of vocal training, which stands in stark contrast with her musicianship. Newsom has been studying her instrument, the harp, since she was 8.
The harp hasn't had much of a place in popular music for a few centuries. And the type of harp Newsom plays -- the full-sized, stationary variety (she plays a Lyon & Healy style 15, to be precise) -- has never been used much outside of classical music. Indeed, Newsom's instrumental training is classical. But while her playing reflects her training and her 14 years' experience, it's not burdened by high-art formality. That's largely because Newsom, who opens for Devendra Banhart at the Brazilian Cultural Center in Cambridge tomorrow, has her own ideas about how her instrument should sound.
Newsom coaxes her instrument into conforming to a songwriting style that combines the simplicity and comfort of Appalachian traditional music with elements of Donovan-esque psychedelic pop folk. In conjunction with her poetic, well-crafted lyrics, that sound has made Newsom the current darling of the indie music scene. It's also made fans of songwriters like Will Oldham and Chan Marshall (Cat Power) and of author Dave Eggers.
Newsom says she tries to approach her instrument free from the weight of traditional expectations. "There are so many potential ways for a harp to sound," Newsom explains. "But most people who write for the harp, they rely on arpeggios and these big, overwrought sounds. I'm not interested in those."
Newsom's playing tends toward the pianistic -- which is to say percussive -- aspect of her instrument. And while that may not take the instrument too far afield (a piano is, after all, essentially a hammer-struck harp in a box), her detailed approach brings an almost multi-instrumental element to her sound.
"You have to see her play live to get it," says Jed Maheu, tour publicity manager for the indie rock label Sub Pop, which has no association with Newsom. "First of all, you never actually see anyone to play a harp. But the way she plays it, it's like she's playing a piano and a bass or a piano and a guitar at the same time."
Newsom manifests those abilities on "The Milk-Eyed Mender," though they lose some impact in an age of studio trickery that makes it easy to take the unconventional use of instruments for granted.
What's most noticeable in Newsom's recorded work are her songwriting (which is smart and mature beyond her 22 years), her odd singing style, and the beautiful combination of untrained voice and trained instrumentalism, each employed with equal care.
Newsom's lyrics evince a thoughtful compositional style, though they're too closely tied to her singing and her music to translate well in print. She sees carefulness as a natural and essential part of a songwriting process that only begins with instinct and inspiration.
"It usually takes me a really long time to write the words," Newsom says. "I'm primarily interested in what it is that I'm saying, but the thing is that it's fairly intuitive and stream-of-consciousness."
She writes place-holder lyrics while working on music, then goes back and reworks her wording until she gets it right. "I know exactly what I want to convey, and then I obsess over saying it in a certain way," Newsom says.
She has a way of bending and blending words to suit the aural aesthetics of her songs, and of placing emphasis on odd syllables, all in an effort to weave her lyrical delivery into her instrumental arrangements. She pays attention to the sounds of words and to nuance of meaning. Then she strives to make the choice that best suits all purposes. "I'm not going to use a word just because I like the sound of it, but if there are 10 different ways to say something, I'll choose the one that works best with the music."
And while she won't dumb down her music, neither does she endeavor to sing or play over anyone's head.
"The intention, if there's any solid intention," she says, "is that while remaining true to what I want to do musically, my songs should still be accessible."
By Sean Glennon, Globe Correspondent | June 18, 2004
Joanna Newsom's speaking voice shouldn't take one by surprise. But it does.
The San Francisco-based singer-songwriter speaks the way she sings, in a voice that is small and innocent -- childlike, though certainly not immature. Her manner of speech is warm, friendly, inviting. It's all a bit of a shock, if only because in listening to Newsom's third CD (her first label release), "The Milk-Eyed Mender," one can't help but assume that the singer's style is something of an affectation.
It's not. Newsom says it couldn't be. The 22-year-old only knows one way to sing. "I never studied singing. I just sing the way I sing," Newsom says, laughing nervously over her cellphone during a drive across Kansas between tour stops. Her laughter reflects a self-consciousness about her lack of vocal training, which stands in stark contrast with her musicianship. Newsom has been studying her instrument, the harp, since she was 8.
The harp hasn't had much of a place in popular music for a few centuries. And the type of harp Newsom plays -- the full-sized, stationary variety (she plays a Lyon & Healy style 15, to be precise) -- has never been used much outside of classical music. Indeed, Newsom's instrumental training is classical. But while her playing reflects her training and her 14 years' experience, it's not burdened by high-art formality. That's largely because Newsom, who opens for Devendra Banhart at the Brazilian Cultural Center in Cambridge tomorrow, has her own ideas about how her instrument should sound.
Newsom coaxes her instrument into conforming to a songwriting style that combines the simplicity and comfort of Appalachian traditional music with elements of Donovan-esque psychedelic pop folk. In conjunction with her poetic, well-crafted lyrics, that sound has made Newsom the current darling of the indie music scene. It's also made fans of songwriters like Will Oldham and Chan Marshall (Cat Power) and of author Dave Eggers.
Newsom says she tries to approach her instrument free from the weight of traditional expectations. "There are so many potential ways for a harp to sound," Newsom explains. "But most people who write for the harp, they rely on arpeggios and these big, overwrought sounds. I'm not interested in those."
Newsom's playing tends toward the pianistic -- which is to say percussive -- aspect of her instrument. And while that may not take the instrument too far afield (a piano is, after all, essentially a hammer-struck harp in a box), her detailed approach brings an almost multi-instrumental element to her sound.
"You have to see her play live to get it," says Jed Maheu, tour publicity manager for the indie rock label Sub Pop, which has no association with Newsom. "First of all, you never actually see anyone to play a harp. But the way she plays it, it's like she's playing a piano and a bass or a piano and a guitar at the same time."
Newsom manifests those abilities on "The Milk-Eyed Mender," though they lose some impact in an age of studio trickery that makes it easy to take the unconventional use of instruments for granted.
What's most noticeable in Newsom's recorded work are her songwriting (which is smart and mature beyond her 22 years), her odd singing style, and the beautiful combination of untrained voice and trained instrumentalism, each employed with equal care.
Newsom's lyrics evince a thoughtful compositional style, though they're too closely tied to her singing and her music to translate well in print. She sees carefulness as a natural and essential part of a songwriting process that only begins with instinct and inspiration.
"It usually takes me a really long time to write the words," Newsom says. "I'm primarily interested in what it is that I'm saying, but the thing is that it's fairly intuitive and stream-of-consciousness."
She writes place-holder lyrics while working on music, then goes back and reworks her wording until she gets it right. "I know exactly what I want to convey, and then I obsess over saying it in a certain way," Newsom says.
She has a way of bending and blending words to suit the aural aesthetics of her songs, and of placing emphasis on odd syllables, all in an effort to weave her lyrical delivery into her instrumental arrangements. She pays attention to the sounds of words and to nuance of meaning. Then she strives to make the choice that best suits all purposes. "I'm not going to use a word just because I like the sound of it, but if there are 10 different ways to say something, I'll choose the one that works best with the music."
And while she won't dumb down her music, neither does she endeavor to sing or play over anyone's head.
"The intention, if there's any solid intention," she says, "is that while remaining true to what I want to do musically, my songs should still be accessible."