#SRCZ Album Flashback Season 2, #4 // Anais Mitchell - ‘Hadestown’ (2010)
Many a fine record has come
from the truly diverse Righteous Babe Records, home to such artists as its
founder Ani DiFranco and more besides. We always support independent record
labels and there’s barely been a record from Righteous Babe that we’ve
disliked. One of our favourite albums of
recent times after rediscovering it by chance is Anais Mitchell’s excellent
concept album ‘Hadestown’.
Hadestown began as a folk-musical
co-created by Mitchell and gone through several incarnations since its
inception. This version features a selection of guest performers portraying the
various characters of the post-apocalyptic Depression era set story. As evidenced
by the title, it’s based upon the Orpheus mythology and takes us way down to
Hadestown with a hugely enjoyable and ultimately thought provoking journey of
song and poetic lyrics.
Opening with the pensive
and graceful folk of Wedding Song, where Mitchell, in character as Euridice enquires
to husband to be Orpheus (Ben Knox Miller of The Low Anthem) how they can afford
their wedding. The chorus is one of the highlights here as nature is evoked to
supply the materials for the upcoming nuptials. A fine start to the record but
it gets better as it continues.
All the performers assembled
here get a fair amount of time at the microphone and each gives a uniquely
beautiful performance that creates a truly unique album. A folk-opera based around
Greek mythology might not sound an instantly accessible project but Hadestown
has a way of worming its way into your consciousness and staying there for a
very long time. Its titular character Hades (as portrayed by Greg Brown) shines
on tracks such as Little Song Bird with deep, dramatic vocals keeping the
inherent drama of the whole production to the fore. Perhaps the most affecting track
on the album is Why We Build The Wall, a strikingly political song that uses a
call-and-response chorus to hammer home the point of the wall: “to keep us free”
This is followed, perhaps
appropriately, by Our Lady of the Underground, an Ani Di Franco lead track as
Persephone. Notable for the completely different style of vocals from Di
Franco, there is a clear funk and blues edge here, further expanding the sonic
world of Hadestown. There is a clear narrative to Hadestown as a whole and,
whether you choose to follow it or not, the journey is an affecting one. The
power of words and the force of nature cannot be understated and over twenty
tracks this album constantly impresses, often changing guises but never losing
your attention for a second.
As the artists third full length
album this clearly debunks the theory of the ‘difficult third album’ and reaffirms
the power that truly beautiful, well thought out music has. Combine it with a
narrative and a story the listener can engage with easily plus a lot of gifted
performers and you have a winner that will not age much in the decades to come.
(S. Rashii)
Website: http://anaismitchell.com/discography/