all horns and thorns, sprung out fully formed, knock-kneed and upright

From "Ys", the new Joanna Newsom

though my wrists and my waist seemed so easy to break
still, my dear, I would have walked you to the very edge of the water
and they will recognise all the lines of your face
in the face of the daughter of the daughter of my daughter

darling, we will be fine, but what was yours and mine
appears to be a sandcastle that the gibbering wave takes
but if it's all just the same, then will you say my name:
say my name in the morning, so I know when the wave breaks?

I wasn't born of a whistle or milked from a thistle at twilight
no, I was all horns and thorns, sprung out fully formed, knock-kneed and upright
so: enough of this terror
we deserve to know light
and grow evermore lighter and lighter
you would have seen me through
but I could not undo that desire

I wanted to put the whole thing in but thought that might be a bit over the top. ;) Read the rest of the song here if you want to know what she was on about.

But the worst thing about Joanna is I can't really recommend her to you. Her voice is probably going to piss you off. You will probably find it unbearable. Oh well.

The new album is a little different. Ys (pronounced "ees") has five songs averaging 11 minutes each. The material and scope of has gone to a whole nother level of "Joanna-ness" which is a delight for Joanna fans like me but possibly makes the album a little less accessible to new listeners. Then there's the orchestration. It may grow on me but my first thoughts were, 'this would probably sound better without that orchestra'. Sawdust and Diamonds (excerpted above) is my favourite so far and that's the one with solo harp. Anyway, I still give it a double quadruple thumbs up. Have a listen if you can find it and remember to buy it for real in November. Joanna, please back come to Australia, I missed you last time.