Shine is Joni Mitchell's first studio cd in almost 10 years. Coming somewhat as a surprise, since she was alleged to have left the business in 2002, Mitchell claimed that the war and pressing environmental concerns compelled her to write again (the cd includes a jazzy remake of her hit Big Yellow Taxi). Highly touted as one of the best of her 17 albums to date, Shine begins with a beautiful piano overture. Music that is both mellow and complicated follows, with the trademark Joni soprano sax adding interesting accents. The addition of Greg Leisz (who had played on k.d. lang's Torch and Twang, amongst others) means there is a lot of pedal steel guitar, which is sometimes puzzling in the jazzy folk mix that Joni is offering here. The lyrics sometimes become a bit too didactic for the subtlety of her music, but, sadly, it seems likely that that might be owing to the political context that she's addressing rather than a lack of lyrical ability on her part. Like many musicians of her generation (most notably Paul McCartney), Mitchell has made her cd available at Starbucks. Maybe that's where the 5 people who are still buying cds are hanging out (guess that includes me!)
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