• Record Label: BMG
  • Release Date: Jan 28, 2022
Metascore
84

Universal acclaim - based on 11 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 11 out of 11
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 11
  3. Negative: 0 out of 11
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  1. Dec 8, 2022
    100
    Hadestown may have gained her success through her successful harnessing of external inspiration but by turning attention inwards on this occasion she’s delivered one of the quietly outstanding albums of the year.
  2. Jan 28, 2022
    100
    What songs they are: melodious, wise, elegantly understated but emotionally resonant.
  3. Jan 28, 2022
    80
    What it might lack in energy, Anaïs Mitchell generally makes up for in the beauty of the songwriting and performances. Mitchell’s voice never fails to deliver, wandering fairy-like through each melody while inhabiting the all-too-human yearning in her lyrics. There’s not a note or an instrument on this record that feels out of place, each little horn line or guitar twinkle is intentional and it all comes together into something with all the warmth and coziness of a winter night sitting by the fire watching the snow fall outside.
  4. Jan 27, 2022
    80
    It’s the work of an artist who has succeeded on a big stage now working in miniature, sweating the small stuff with utterly charming results.
  5. Mojo
    Jan 26, 2022
    80
    Deceptively simple, the result is a lovely thing. [Feb 2022, p.86]
  6. Uncut
    Jan 26, 2022
    80
    Sonically, the album has a muted palette, an approach that suits the colourised introversion of Mitchell's writing. even so, there are occasional flashes of illumination. [Mar 2022, p.24]
  7. Rolling Stone
    Jan 26, 2022
    80
    Extends the murky, revelatory folk of [Bonnie Light Horseman] with wistful reflections on the passing of time and free-falling in love. [Jan 2022, p.71]
  8. 80
    If these stories sound less compelling than those of her past work, rest assured that Mitchell’s talent as a songwriter has remained undimmed in the decade since Young Man in America.
  9. Jan 26, 2022
    79
    Anaïs Mitchell is a grownup album. It’s the first great folk album of the year, but more crucially, it’s a quiet personal triumph for Mitchell herself. Disclosing one’s own truths rarely sounds this graceful.
  10. Jan 28, 2022
    72
    There are no great musical innovations here, but that’s not to say the songs aren’t affecting: Anaïs Mitchell is a compelling, earnest rumination on the desires and possibilities that arise when you start looking for significance in small moments.
  11. Jan 31, 2022
    70
    With her lowkey yet glistening collection of songs, she jumps back into the light with clearheaded confidence and a more mature outlook.

Awards & Rankings

User Score
8.1

Universal acclaim- based on 7 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 7
  2. Negative: 0 out of 7
  1. Feb 24, 2022
    7
    This is a pleasant listen, while a more mature sound, this record has got hints of the modern indie folk sound that Thomas Bartlett and TheThis is a pleasant listen, while a more mature sound, this record has got hints of the modern indie folk sound that Thomas Bartlett and The National have helped spread to the mainstream via the likes of Taylor Swift. Extremely listenable, easy to immerse yourself in and then just as easy to forget. It's good without being earth shattering like 99% of releases. Full Review »
  2. Feb 9, 2022
    9
    An effortless reminder (as if one was ever even needed) that Mitchell's still got the magic touch even after almost a decade away, the tenderAn effortless reminder (as if one was ever even needed) that Mitchell's still got the magic touch even after almost a decade away, the tender warmth and whimsy and gentle, easy charm that all but overflow from beautifully sparse, delicate arrangements and the singer's angelic vocals prove ever more intoxicating as the record draws on until the listener is left every bit as perfectly comfortable and content as she herself sounds by its close.

    Choice Cuts: "Brooklyn Bridge," "Bright Star, "On Your Way (Felix Song)"
    Full Review »
  3. Feb 6, 2022
    8
    Anais Mitchell is a thoughtful and caring song writer and it shines through in spades on this album.

    Her voice and writing is like being
    Anais Mitchell is a thoughtful and caring song writer and it shines through in spades on this album.

    Her voice and writing is like being wrapped up in a warm embrace, and being assured that everything will be ok...

    I'm giving it a strong 8
    Full Review »