In the video for Joanna Newsom’s first new work in five years, “Sapokanikan,” the harpist-pianist-singer-composer-actor strolls through Manhattan in long takes while singing kaleidoscopic lyrics. Around her the city sparkles. As she moves, Newsom stares into the camera and offers a vivid recounting of James Joyce’s “Finnegans Wake.”
Just kidding about that last part. The dense lyrics are nearly impenetrable and connect old Manhattan with Tammany Hall, its Dutch ancestry and lost time while sophisticated sound swirls, at various points mixing piano, bells, percussion, whistles, bass and brass.
With the song’s surprise arrival comes news that Newsom will release “Divers,” her first studio album since 2010’s epic “Have One on Me” and fourth overall.