Album: Joni Mitchell

Travelogue (Nonesuch/Eastwest)

Retaining the arranger/conductor Vince Mendoza from her standards album Both Sides Now, Joni Mitchell has re-recorded 22 of her old songs in new orchestral settings on this double-CD, in some cases transforming them entirely, although the contributions of saxist Wayne Shorter, in particular, provide a bridge to her earlier work. Despite its cool, sophisticated manner – try and imagine Steely Dan orchestrated by Leonard Bernstein – Travelogue is not a dinner-party album – it demands far too much of one's attention to languish discreetly in the background. The arrangements here are a far cry from the usual pallid tints and shades of orchestral pop: these are highly wrought, meticulously considered orchestrations in which each line – each word – is paid microscopically close attention, the subtleties of meaning in her lyrics reflected in an ever-changing flow of instrumental accents and details which can, in the more extreme cases, obscure the songs they serve. But mostly, the new settings open out the songs, accentuating the urban noir shadings of "Trouble Child", lending a darkly dramatic tone to the dystopian "Sex Kills", and generally illuminating the enduring intelligence and sophistication of Mitchell's writing throughout her career.