Baker's Dozen

Artists discuss the 13 records that shaped their lives

2. Joanna NewsomHave One On Me

I just love that record. It was so beautifully done on every level – the arrangements are really incredible. Her writing, the storytelling is wonderful – she captures these scenes. She has a very casual way of expressing herself and it’s very romantic: romantic in a literary way, like the romantic writers. She uses these long descriptions and paints a picture really well. But I think what really got me was the arrangements. The arrangements are so incredible, they’re so economical; every instrument comes in when it’s needed and then steps away.

The texture is always changing. You know how arrangements can be kinda blocky? That’s never the case here. I think she worked on them with Ryan Francesconi. They’re sometimes very sparse, the percussion is incredible. I don’t know how to explain it… I don’t know, even the packaging is beautiful. Yeah. Love it.

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