Track listing
- 1 Any Way the Wind Blows
- 2 Out of Pawn
- 3 Your Fonder Heart
- 4 Why We Build the Wall
- 5 Now You Know
- 6 If It's True
- 7 Namesake
- 8 Young Man in America
- 9 Two Kids
- 10 The Pursewarden Affair
- 11 His Kiss the Riot
- 12 Come September
- 13 You Are Forgiven
- 14 Our Lady of the Underground
- 15 Cosmic American
Rate/Catalog
Catalog
Set listening
Review
To rate, slide your finger across the stars from left to right.
1 Review
Intimate, inspired folk
Perhaps Anais Mitchell's voice isn't for everyone, but I think she's often overlooked as one of the greatest americana-style folk artists of the time. Where many might be looking for something that's easy to sing along to, her work provides odd rhythm and widely varying subject matter. This naturally is not going to be to everyones' tastes.In this regard, Xoa is an effective retrospective on her work between 2002 and now. This album consists of acoustic recordings of a good mix of her work, delivering an intimate and fairly unique collection of tracks. The overall mood is somber, romantic and melancholic with a little bit of the more upbeat jazzy influence found in the stellar Hadestown. Having listened to her work as it came out I wasn't expecting to be blow away by the acoustic versions of these tracks, but despite one of Mitchell's strengths usually being the rich instrumentation I would say in many ways these are the superior versions. Xoa was recorded as a kind of love-letter, thank you to her fans and as a result it's fair to say if you enjoy her voice and intimate music as a whole you'll love this release. I suspect it's a love it or hate it kind of album, and I certainly can't get enough of it. Frankly, I can't fault it for what it tries to achieve so I can't help but give it four stars.
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Catalog
27 May 2021
16 Apr 2021
13 Apr 2021
8 Apr 2021
18 Feb 2021
16 Dec 2020
1 Dec 2020
26 Sep 2020
25 Sep 2020
-
1
Any Way the Wind Blows
-
2
Out of Pawn
-
3
Your Fonder Heart
-
4
Why We Build the Wall
-
5
Now You Know
-
6
If It's True
-
7
Namesake
-
8
Young Man in America
-
9
Two Kids
-
10
The Pursewarden Affair
-
11
His Kiss the Riot
-
12
Come September
-
13
You Are Forgiven
-
14
Our Lady of the Underground
-
15
Cosmic American
23 Jun 2020
-
1
Any Way the Wind Blows
-
2
Out of Pawn
-
3
Your Fonder Heart
-
4
Why We Build the Wall
-
5
Now You Know
-
6
If It's True
-
7
Namesake
-
8
Young Man in America
-
9
Two Kids
-
10
The Pursewarden Affair
-
11
His Kiss the Riot
-
12
Come September
-
13
You Are Forgiven
-
14
Our Lady of the Underground
-
15
Cosmic American
17 Jun 2019
22 May 2019
20 Apr 2019
12 Apr 2019
30 Jan 2019
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