We know words.

The last five posts on Shiny & New have featured little-to-no writing and we didn't want any intrepid discoverers of our petit blog (petite? is 'blog' masculine or feminine?) to think that all we do is just post pictures and write something deeply witty above and below them. We do a whole lot more. Oh yes.

So here we're going to write about a new Joanna Newsom song we've heard from her up-and-coming third studio album, Have One on Me. The song we've heard is called "Good Intentions Paving Company" and it is a pleasure to listen to AND to write about.

Compared to Newsom's previous work it is a veritable shock to the system. It starts with this chugging piano rhythm and builds in a way that is more 'pop' than anything she has ever done before. But don't worry, it's still 7 minutes long, so it's not like she's sold her values up the river to go work with RedOne. Anyway... it's sort of 'bluesy' and has these lovely harmonies. It doesn't do exactly what you'd expect it to do, either, so it's not a generic mess, it's a lovely surprise.

You'd sort of expect it to keep building until the marching band, timpani, side drum, tank, gongs, twirlers and cheerleaders had all come in - a 'kitchen sink' build. But it doesn't. It also feels like a totally natural and wonderful progression from her last, lush, ornate, orchestral, classical album, Ys. We have to be honest with you, we thought anything Joanna Newsom released post-Ys would be, by default, disappointing. But this feels exactly right. It feels natural. It feels good. And it's wonderful. We know you'll enjoy...

Thanks for watching/reading/listenin'.