Joanna Newsom is a concert harpist, an unusual background for a singer-songwriter.
Her debut album, The Milk-Eyed Mender, was widely praised in 2004.
She won over many fans with her harp playing, but that's not the only challenge for first-time listeners to Newsom's enchanting tales.
The 24-year-old singer is part of a growing musical movement referred to as "freak folk"-- a term many of the artists involved don't seem to care very much for.
Newsom's long-awaited sophomore effort is called Ys.
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