The Milk‐Eyed Mender

The Milk-Eyed Mender, Joanna Newsom's 2004 debut, is a harp-centered indie folk record that blends traditional folk, contemporary songwriting, and avant-garde sensibilities. Newsom's high, distinctive vocals and intricate fingerpicked harp anchor long, narrative songs with poetic, sometimes archaic lyrics, supported by sparse arrangements of strings, woodwinds and other acoustic textures. The album marked the arrival of an idiosyncratic songwriting voice that foregrounds unusual melodies, complex structures and a homemade, intimate sound.