Love’s Neverdoneing Lawlessness

Joanna Newsom “Soft As Chalk”

1. If you’ve been scared off by Joanna Newsom in the past, “Soft As Chalk” is a good entry point. It’s relatively brief, and stylistically closer to pop music, or at least ’70s singer-songwriter music along the lines of Laura Nyro, Joni Mitchell, Carole King, and Judee Sill. Newsom has altered her phrasing somewhat, leaving behind a lot of the affectations that tend to aggravate a lot of listeners. She’s still extremely expressive and distinct, but there’s more “soul” in her voice now. “Soft As Chalk” rolls R&B, gospel and country saloon music in with elements of folk and classical composition. It sounds instantly familiar, but like no one thing in particular.

2. Actually, from the shape and style of the piece down to specific lyrics, it strikes me as something Matthew and Eleanor Friedberger would or could write, but a touch more sophisticated, and performed with far greater elegance than they could muster.

3. I am impressed by how full and tonally varied this recording is given that it’s just piano, percussion, and vocals, with no apparent overdubs. It never seems so simple or bare. Neal Morgan’s percussion puts weight and direction behind Newsom’s winding melodies, and at some points complements her words with illustrative sound: She sings the word “crickets,” and suddenly we hear them in shaking metal. She sings about restlessness, and it sounds like a house rattling in a wind storm.

4. Newsom is brilliant with language and stunningly precise in her selection of words and construction of verses. Her lyrics can seem overly dense, but much like her musical compositions, they reveal their charms upon repeated listening and close attention. Sometimes you only need one line to key you in, and with this song, it comes near the end: “Give love a little shove and it becomes terror.” That’s the gist of it, really — feeling vexed by the way love can be overshadowed by the turmoil it leaves in its wake.

Buy it from Amazon.