Anais Mitchell

In case you haven't met her, Anaïs Mitchell is not a man. She's a woman, quick to laugh and to cry, a fan of Jane Austen and miniskirts. She came of age reading the diaries of Anaïs Nin and blasting early Ani Difranco records. So it may catch a few listeners off-guard when Mitchell cries out, in the opening sequence of her latest album, "I'm a young man!" And it may come as a surprise when, over the course of eleven songs, she seems to be channeling spirits from the Old Testament to modern America—but mostly, well, from the Y chromosome.

Taking on voices other than her own is not exactly new for Mitchell, though. In 2010 Righteous Babe Records released the recorded version of her folk opera Hadestown, a modern retelling of the Orpheus myth, featuring guest singers Justin Vernon (Bon Iver), Ani Difranco and Greg Brown. The album became something of a critical phenomenon in the UK, making "Best of 2010" lists in the Guardian, Sunday Times and Observer.

Young Man in America received similar acclaim, and saw Mitchell take to the road for six months across the US and Europe with a four-piece band, culminating in an opening tour for Bon Iver that wound up in Radio City Music Hall, NYC.

“Terrific….Mitchell is a skilled storyteller..and her delivery gives an emotional complexity that welcomes and even demands repeated listens.” Pitchfork

“A remarkable, genre-defying album” 4* Uncut

“The startling imagery and dramatic musical sweep of the title track’s cradle to grave odyssey marks her out as a true American original” 4* Q Magazine

“Music of rare boldness and reach. A sensational album” CD of the Week, The Sunday Times

“A fierce, melodic affirmation of sadness and grief, love and lust, attachments formed both strong and precarious, Young Man in America is a marvel of a record from start to finish”. BBC Music