Anais Mitchell's Hadestown

                                                   My fondness of Anais Mitchell’s new album Hadestown could possibly match many loyal Joanna Newsom followers’ enthusiasm for her third album that came out out earlier this year. Taking the tragic Greek myth of Orpheus’s journey to the underworld to bring back his beloved Eurydice, Mitchell reset the scene in the post-depression era America and encompasses Jazz, Blues and Gospel as well as folk, classical music elements to construct this stage-like performance. 


One of the many highlights of this epic “folk opera” is Greg Brown’s voice as Hades. Eerie, weathered but hefty, particularly in Why We Build the Wall, Brown makes a perfect King of the underworld. Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon,  who contributed and played the part of Orpheus beautifully as the story progresses from Wedding Song to Doubts Come In.

If The Knife’s latest collaboration was in soul a tribute to Darwin and evolution, then Anais Mitchell’s effort was in flesh and bones to rebuild the living underworld we are in today

Anaïs Mitchell ft. Justin Vernon - Wait for Me by stndrdeviations