Joanna Newsom has been talking up the commercial potential of her first album in five years, suggesting that this may be the record where she at last wins over agnostics. And why shouldn’t she? Newsom is nothing if not ambitious.
I’m not sure, however, that Divers has cross-over appeal. Die-hards (“delvers” Newsom calls them) will surely swoon over those crazy elf vocals and quirky song structures. But it is less clear why those previously baffled by the Californian’s esoteric inflections and Kate Bush-goes-down-the-rabbit-hole songs might suddenly be won over.
From one perspective, much of Divers sounds like a restating of the first principles advocated on 2010’s Have One On Me, and 2006’s Ys. It is perhaps stating the obvious to say that your response to the LP will likely depend on your liking for Newsom’s full tilt eccentricity. But she is so distinctive and off-beat that there is no getting away from it: many people will find this record hard going.
Of course, as Newsom has already demonstrated, you only need to appeal to a very small percentage of people to have a big indie hit on your hands. And the thing is that she can weave a spell – which is, after all, why Paul Thomas Anderson cast her as the not-quite- of-this-earth narrator in Inherent Vice. Divers’ first single ‘Saponikan’ – with over a million YouTube views already – builds beautifully and the layered vocals cushion any shrillness. There is real drama too in ‘Leaving The City’. Across an entire long-player, however, Newsom’s sharp trillings and plinking harps can seem like too much of a good thing.
If you’re already among the converted, we have no hesitation recommending Divers. Others might be forgiven for being more puzzled than entranced.