After being awarded the prestigious New Folk award at Kerrville in 2003 much was expected from Anais Mitchell, but few could have anticipated an album as striking as ‘Hymns for the Exiled’.
From the opening verse of ‘Before the Eyes of Storytelling Girls’ it’s obvious that this is going to be something a little out of the ordinary – it’s immediately disarming while being literary and powerful. She has an obvious cultural and political understanding, and while this isn’t a disc full of politically charged songs, some of the best tracks here are intelligent comments on current issues. What separates Anais from other singer/songwriters with political leanings is that she delivers the message without compromising the song – everything fits together naturally and her thoughts are expressed in a more poetic and subtle way than most contemporary singer/songwriters.
This lightness of touch is carried over into the music; she has a natural, sweet and flexible voice that’s complimented by the spare backing – her own gentle guitar picking is fleshed out by further guitar, bass, violin and viola and the arrangements are excellent throughout.
This album contains some stunning songs, and the lyrics easily stand up on their own, and for those looking to delve further into the songs the liner notes provide footnotes and reference for most of the eleven tracks. While many of the songs address weighty issues (most notably ‘Storytelling Girls’, ‘1984’ and ‘Quecreek Flood’) the standout is ‘Orion’, an obviously personal song about the death of an Austin drummer, it’s a beautifully simple acoustic piece with a delicate guitar backing, a strong melody and a stunning vocal delivery.
‘Hymns for the Exiled’ is an excellent album; intelligent and poetic and well as being personal and political but where it really shines is in its accessibility which you rarely, if ever, find in an album as powerful as this. Very highly recommended.

£13.49