Now playing, Iris DeMent, The Trackless Woods (Flariella).
For months, I found excuses to keep this collection of Anna Akhmatova’s poems and excerpts set to music at a distance: it’s too literary; you have to devote too much undivided attention to it; it’s too long; the melodies and music aren’t differentiated sufficiently; quibble, quibble, quibble about the selection of poems.
Finally, only a single hesitation stuck: I would never recommend this as a first Iris DeMent album. But if you are a fan of her or of Akhmatova, you should damn well check it out. If, like me, you are a fan of both, it’s a must and probably the #11 Album of 2015. Easy for a sequence of Akhmatova to become too morose and tragic — this is varied, with special care given to the sensual. A quiet triumph.
Miles To Go 