Young Man in America
2012 studio album by Anaïs Mitchell
Young Man in America is the fifth studio album by American singer-songwriter Anaïs Mitchell, released on Wilderland Records in the UK on February 13, 2012, and in the US on February 28, 2012. It is a folk and folk-pop album with elements of bluegrass and New Orleans jazz.
Themes
Although the album does not tell a specific story like her previous album Hadestown, Mitchell has stated that the album was "influenced by the recession", and that many of the lyrics allude to the loss of certainty and the old ways in modern-day America: "There's a feeling that the American is something of an orphan, that we can't trust we're going to be taken care of". Many of the tracks tell stories related to children and parenting, and Mitchell told Uncut magazine that she was conscious of having reached the age of 30 without yet becoming a parent.
The track "Shepherd" was based on a short story written by her father Don, who was a novelist before he became a university professor. The album's front cover features a photograph of him at the age of 30, the same age as his daughter Anaïs when she made the album.
Reception
The album gained wide critical acclaim upon its release. In the UK Uncut magazine called it a "remarkable, genre-defying album" and the BBC's online music review described it as "a modern folk record that snaps and sparkles with energy, daring to take on some formidable themes in the process... a marvel of a record from start to finish". musicOMH was convinced that "with Young Man In America, Anaïs Mitchell has created her second consecutive masterpiece" and feeling that while "there's a deep sense of sadness permeating through the album", the result was that "none of this is depressing or maudlin though...
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