Joanna Newsom --"Cosmia"
It took me quite a while to get used to the voice, but once I did finally give in to it, I fell pretty hard for it. This is still, I think, Newsom's best song thus far, and although I like the Van Dyke Parks-produced version from Ys, with its dramatic string arrangement, I love the lengthier, folkier arrangement on the Joanna Newsom and the Ys Street Band EP, which sounds like a dressed-up version of a barn dance with its accordion, musical saw, and banjo.
Newsom's voice is able to convey genuine pathos, and though the lyrics here aren't quite as stunning as they are elsewhere on Ys, they still fascinate. As a song of parting, "Cosmia," the album's closer, pairs logically with "Emily," the album's opener. There's something to do with the odd but functional family dynamic -- "kith and kin" -- referred to elsewhere on the album. There's the elemental fire and water motif, vaguely indicating some kind of medieval thematic framework. The song structure is classical, effectively designed to emphasize the shifting emotions of the song. I can't tell if Newsom's oddity is affected or not -- her most recent album, a triple disc set that I still haven't completely explored, boasts some great material, but as far as I can tell there's nothing there to freak out the squares. Regardless, she has created some songs with a genuine affective power, and this is one of the best of them.
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