Joanna Newsom - 'Ys' (Drag City) Released 06/11/06

Joanna Newsom's second album is titled after a mythical city that became submerged in water and disappeared, Atlantis-style. Which is appropriate, considering that 'Ys' is so far removed from any contemporary references it might well be an archaic recording of an artform that's been extinct for aeons, and has only now been reclaimed to our turntables by a lucky chance discovery.

Enchanting as the squeaky-voiced Californian harpist's 2004 debut 'Milk Eyed Mender' was, little on that pleasantly bizarre platter prepared for the awe-inspiring ambition and visionary vibes seeping from the grooves of the follow-up. Alt. rock royals Steve Albini and Jim O'Rourke pop in for production and mixing duties, whilst the classy orchestral arrangements come courtesy of avant-pop veteran Van Dyke Parks, but the five extended epics on 'Ys' bear scant resemblance to anything these illustrious collaborators have been involved with before. Roy Harper had a go at a similar prog-folk hybrid with the opus-length tunes, acoustic picking, vocal histrionics and grandiose embellishments from a full orchestra on his unjustly neglected gem 'Stormcock', but whereas the Brit-folk firebrand's 1971 masterwork was rooted in the counter-culture grievances of its time, Newsom gallops to pastures unknown with startlingly unique results.

At it's grandest, 'Ys' is fit to soundtrack the opening scenes a yet-to-be-made historical epic - a gigantic castle gleaming on the edge of a lushly green valley, sunrise peeking above the hills, a brook bubbling along, a knight or two on their horse en route to an encounter with a blood-thirsty dragon, and a fair maiden sitting at her chamber window with a lyre. It's an image reinforced by the album's cover art, yet this isn't a backwards-gazing retreat to vanished musical traditions or an attempt to mimic musty medieval folk ditties, despite the appearance of a 'thee' or three on the bulging lyrics sheet. Instead, 'Ys' is next to impossible to pin down to a specific era, genre or location, which only adds to the album's compelling air of mystery.