Puneet Varma (Editor)

Hadestown

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Released
  
March 9, 2010 (U.S.)

Label
  
Righteous Babe

Release date
  
9 March 2010

Genres
  
Folk music, Indie folk

Length
  
57:17

Artist
  
Anaïs Mitchell

Producer
  
Todd Sickafoose

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Recorded
  
Brooklyn Recording Studio, New York City

Hadestown (2010)
  
Young Man in America (2012)

Nominations
  
Grammy Award for Best Recording Package

Similar
  
Young Man in America, Child Ballads, The Brightness, Hymns for the Exiled, The Song They Sang W

Hadestown is the fourth album by Vermont-based Anaïs Mitchell, and was released by Righteous Babe Records in the U.S. on March 9, 2010. The album, a concept album, follows a variation on the Ancient Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, where Orpheus must embark on a quest to rescue his wife Eurydice from the underworld. It has been advertised as a 'folk opera'. Several of the songs feature singers other than Mitchell, including Justin Vernon (better known as lead vocalist and guitarist of Wisconsin-based band Bon Iver), Ani DiFranco, Greg Brown, and Tanya, Petra and Rachel Haden (referred to in the track listing as 'The Haden Triplets').

Contents

Production

The album features orchestral arrangements by Michael Chorney, who was involved with Anaïs' recordings since Hymns for the Exiled in 2004. The recording itself is based upon a live version of the 'folk opera' which was performed by Mitchell with the collaboration of Mr. Chorney and a theatrical director, Ben T. Matchstick. These performances originally featured a 22-person cast and, after a tour of New England, the songs began to be edited and reworked.

Within the narrative of the album, the part of Orpheus is played by Vernon, Persephone by DiFranco, Hades by Greg Brown, The Fates by Tanya, Petra and Rachel Haden, Hermes by Ben Knox Miller and Mitchell herself plays Eurydice.

While most of the recording was produced by Mr. Sickafoose at Brooklyn Recording Studio in New York City, the lead vocals were often produced elsewhere in the U.S..

The Grammy Award nominated packaging was designed by Brian Grunert, Peter Nevins and Anaïs Mitchell, using the artwork of Peter Nevins.

Reception

Upon release, Hadestown gained extremely positive reviews overall. Drowned in Sound awarded the album a rare 10/10, stating that "Mitchell traverses such a sweeping range of emotions, genres and styles over the course of Hadestown, it’s frankly remarkable that the whole thing works at all. That it works so brilliantly well, that in under an hour it creates a world you’ll want to return to time and time again, that it is a glittering model of the form – of collaboration itself – is nothing short of awe-inspiring." The Guardian and NME were similarly effusive in their praise, awarding the album 5/5 and 9/10 respectively. Stereo Subversion's Jonathan Sanders gave the album a perfect score and called it "a lasting example of where folk music can go when the right musicians take hold of history." The album also tops review aggregator website AnyDecentMusic?'s all time chart with an 8.9, the highest rating for any album until Frank Ocean's Channel Orange.

Adaptation

A theatrical production with several new songs premiered at New York Theatre Workshop in May 2016, developed and directed by Rachel Chavkin.

Track listing

  1. "Wedding Song" featuring Justin Vernon – 3:18
  2. "Epic (Part I)" featuring Justin Vernon – 2:22
  3. "Way Down Hadestown" featuring Justin Vernon, Ani DiFranco and Ben Knox Miller – 3:33
  4. "Songbird Intro" – 0:24
  5. "Hey, Little Songbird" featuring Greg Brown – 3:09
  6. "Gone, I'm Gone" featuring The Haden Triplets – 1:09
  7. "When the Chips are Down" featuring The Haden Triplets – 2:14
  8. "Wait for Me" featuring Ben Knox Miller and Justin Vernon – 3:06
  9. "Why We Build the Wall" featuring Greg Brown – 4:18
  10. "Our Lady of the Underground" featuring Ani DiFranco – 4:40
  11. "Flowers (Eurydice's Song)" – 3:33
  12. "Nothing Changes" featuring The Haden Triplets – 0:52
  13. "If It's True" featuring Justin Vernon – 3:03
  14. "Papers (Hades Finds Out)" – 1:24
  15. "How Long?" featuring Ani DiFranco and Greg Brown – 3:36
  16. "Epic (Part II)" featuring Justin Vernon – 2:55
  17. "Lover's Desire" – 2:05
  18. "His Kiss, The Riot" featuring Greg Brown – 4:03
  19. "Doubt Comes In" featuring Justin Vernon – 5:32
  20. "I Raise My Cup to Him" featuring Ani DiFranco – 2:10

Songs

1Wedding Song3:18
2Epic - Part I2:22
3Way Down Hadestown3:32

References

Hadestown Wikipedia
(Text) CC BY-SA