Joanna Newsom's "Esame"

After last year's elaborate, intricate masterwork Ys, Joanna Newsom shows signs of returning to an unadorned style with this live MP3 recording of her new song "Esame". Like most of Newsom's best work, it's a simple, personal tale: a baby is born to a friend of the narrator, which leads her to think about growing up and growing older. The lyrics are vintage Newsom, with her trademark lit major vocabulary and emotive imagery like her visions of "blackberry, rosemary, Jimmy crack corn." Where this song differs from her past efforts, and where it surpasses both Ys and her debut Milk-Eyed Mender, is Newsom's vocal delivery. The rough edges present on Mender and (to a lesser extent) Ys have been polished to a high sheen, resulting in a sound that is both elastic and controlled, euphoric and tempered. Just after the two minute mark, in the phrase, "You are the sweetest one I've ever laid my eyes upon," Newsom stretches out the "one" for a full six seconds, creating a series of syllables up and down the scale that echoes not only the picks and jumps of her harp but the West African kora music which initially led her to performing. One of the most moving sections of Ys is the album closer, "Cosmia", when Newsom yelps "And I miss your precious heart" over and over again, tugging on her harp strings for dear life and bringing the orchestra down with her. In her live performances of the song, the seven minute album version stretches to thirteen minutes, as Newsom and her band explore the beauty of staying still and milking a powerful phrase for all it's worth. She does the same at the end of "Esame", gently mulling over the words "sweet Esame" ten times, and finding in each repetition a new aspect of the words to love, and a different melody to sing. It's the sound of an innovator at work, and the welcome sound of Joanna Newsom finally leaving behind her awkward schoolgirl days.