There aren’t too many singer-songwriters around who can claim to have written and staged a folk-opera based on the myth of Hades and Eurydice. In fact, Anaïs Mitchell is probably the only one, having done so at the tail-end of 2006. Hymns For The Exiled was originally released in 2004 but is being given another push this June on a new label over here in the UK.
Singing in an almost Joanna Newsom-esque, child-like warble, there’s something both unsettling and mystical about her compositions. The opening song and forthcoming single Before The Eyes Of Storytelling Girls is a typical example of her haunting tunes, a plaintive yet politicised ode to the confusing world that surrounds her. Sparse and stripped down, you feel almost impossibly close to Mitchell when she sings, her voice soaring high above the sad guitar that underpins the song.

There are no holds barred lyrically either, with references to the Iraq war and lying governments flowing surely and sweetly. The stark, hostile imagery is occasionally at odds with the youthful tone of her voice, creating an awkward conflict between the beauty of her voice and the harsh realities it sings of. But for someone who’s written songs about ancient Greek myths, it would seem such contrasts are only natural.

[Anaïs Mitchell]