Uh oh...

This, above, is the cover for Joanna Newsom's new album, Have One On Me. If you were confused by the album title (which isn't exactly Newsomesque, in all honesty) then you'll be utterly baffled by the supposed album cover, above. It's dreadful. Bare. Blank. Lazy. It's completely devoid of whimsy, romance, expanse, texture. We are begging, praying, hoping and crossing every and all of our limbs in hope that it's just a mock-up FOR NOW. Surely it can't be the finished work? How could she do this to us?

This, however, is where the 'uh oh' ends. We have managed to wrap our ears around a track from the up-and-coming album, "'81" - it appears on CD 1 of the three disc opus (yes! triple album alert!) - and let us tell you, it is blindingly lovely. Just spun out of pure cut-glass, ravishing lovely. Gone are the ambitious and lush orchestral arrangements of her last album, Ys, and gone, too, are the extravagant and delightful song lengths (this track is only 3:52 compared to the 15 minute plus durations of some of those aforementioned Ys tracks). Just Newsom, her harp, and her incomparable skill.

We have no idea if the whole album's gonna be as sparse as this, nor do we know if there will be a theme, or set of themes, associated with each separate 'disc'. We don't even know if that atrocious joke of a coverart up there is the final deal. But we shall let you know in due time.

What we do know is the tracklist. So here it is in all its glory. Intrigue abounds...

Disc 1

1. "Easy"
2. "Have One On Me"
3. "'81"
4. "Good Intentions Paving Company"
5. "No Provenance"
6. "Baby Birch"

Disc 2

1. "On A Good Day"
2. "You And Me, Bess"
3. "In California"
4. "Jackrabbits"
5. "Go Long"
6. "Occident"

Disc 3

1. "Soft As Chalk"
2. "Esme"
3. "Autumn"
4. "Ribbon Bows"
5. "Kingfisher"
6. "Does Not Suffice"

Amazing.