Xoa (2014)

With "Xoa", Mitchell is going back to basics. "Xoa" is a fifteen-track solo collection. It includes rerecorded songs up to ten years old; several from "Hadestown" (recorded in her own voice for the first time); as well as some completely new and previously unrecorded songs. They were taped during two sessions in Nashville with engineer/producer Gary Paczosa, who produced "Child Ballads". She sees the project as a correspondence between herself and her audience, especially those familiar with her songs from way back. Paczosa has a gift for capturing the female voice and directing the ear to the lyric line. If there's a common thread in Mitchell's writingand the breadth of it is represented well on "Xoa" -- it's that she's as interested in the world around her as the one inside her. She has a way of tackling big themes with the same emotional intimacy most artists use to describe their inner lives. (bron: Anaïs Mitchell)