Music / Reviews
Review: Anais Mitchell, The Lantern
“If you like my tunes,” Rachel Ries told the audience before the final song of her set, “you’ll love my jams”. Turns out she was referring to the homemade preserves she makes, lugs around, and sells on tour. “Not the wisest thing,” she acknowledged wryly. As the supporting act for Anaïs Mitchell, Ries set the tone for the evening’s performances: in short, music played for the love of it, by artists who have built their lives around it, with no room for ego or pretence.
Accompanying herself on piano and guitar, Ries’ modern folk songs ranged from sly, searching pieces, with jokes about her own ‘rural Mennonite existential angst’ to fresh, delta-blues style riffs. With help from mandolin player James Smith and headliner Anaïs Mitchell, we got the impression that this was less a supporting-artist-main-act relationship, and more a group of friends who love playing together. Indeed, Ries and Mitchell have known each other for years, having collaborated on 2008’s country e.p. They’re currently touring the UK and Europe in a van, with Mitchell’s fifteen-month-old daughter and her husband Noah along for the ride.
Even so, it was Anaïs Mitchell’s solo performance that truly claimed the audience’s attention. Mitchell’s lyrics and arrangements somehow manage to be both organic and graceful, with an unmatchable elegance of form. They are deeply intimate without being awkwardly personal. Songs such as Now you Know, from new solo session album Xoa were coupled seamlessly with pieces from her folk opera Hadestown, alongside her take on traditional songs, such as Clyde Water (from her album Child Ballads with Jefferson Hamer).
is needed now More than ever
The second half of Mitchell’s set welcomed back Ries and Smith in order to showcase new vocal and piano arrangements of well-known favourites, including Tailor and the title track from her popular album, Young Man in America.
Alone with her guitar and the occasional rhythmic boot-stomp, Mitchell played with ease and remarkable technique, never slipping into complacency. The result? An audience who were utterly spellbound, forgetting even to fidget as Mitchell’s powerful presence filled up the stage; a testament to the fact that she ranks among the best singer-songwriters performing today.
Read our pre-gig interview with Anais Mitchell here.
Our top newsletters emailed directly to you
