{"id":148185,"date":"2025-07-20T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-07-20T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/?p=148185"},"modified":"2025-07-18T09:08:56","modified_gmt":"2025-07-18T16:08:56","slug":"review-im-with-her-wild-and-clear-and-blue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/review-im-with-her-wild-and-clear-and-blue\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: I\u2019m With Her\u2019s Acoustic Palette and Chamber-Folk Instincts Shine on \u2018Wild and Clear and Blue\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

There\u2019s a kind of focus that comes with time\u2014a clarity of purpose, of place, of voice. On their new album, I\u2019m With Her steps fully into that knowing. What began as a serendipitous union among Sarah Jarosz, Aoife O\u2019Donovan, and Sara Watkins has grown into something cohesive and deeply felt\u2014not just a band but a shared language.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wild and Clear and Blue<\/a><\/em>, the second full-length offering from this modern roots trio\u2014with seven Grammy wins and 31 nominations among them\u2014is a kind of chamber folk that is both otherworldly and muscular, as if Joni Mitchell collaborated with minimalist composer Terry Riley in a Catskills chapel. The arrangements are rustic but current; the harmonies, tight but never smug, infuse the record with a sense of quiet inventiveness\u2014another standout from one of modern folk\u2019s most transcendent collectives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"I\u2019m<\/a>
I\u2019m With Her, Wild and Clear and Blue<\/em> (Rounder)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

On the opening track, \u201cAncient Light,\u201d the trio slips effortlessly into a 7\/4 groove like it\u2019s the most natural thing in the world, fiddle and cello unfurling like a flower in bloom, Jarosz\u2019s voice calm and sure as she sings, \u201cI\u2019ve been a long time coming.\u201d She has\u2014and so has the band. Beneath it all, O\u2019Donovan\u2019s Collings 01 Mh provides a subtle but crucial pulse, delivering a warm, midrange-rich foundation that blends beautifully with Watkins\u2019 fiddle and the low end of her cello. Jarosz, known for her deft picking, plays a 1964 Guild S-50 Jet Star electric that cuts cleanly through arrangements without overpowering, creating a textured interplay of rhythm and melody that rewards repeat listens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If their 2018 debut, See You Around<\/a><\/em>, was stripped and intimate\u2014a porchlight glowing warmly against the dark\u2014Wild and Clear and Blue<\/em> is that same house shot from above, its golden glow pulsing within a vast and swirling night. Producer Josh Kaufman (Bonny Light Horseman, Bob Weir, the National) keeps the palette mostly acoustic but always grooving. Cello, lap steel, Wurlitzer, and the ever-present shimmer of Watkins\u2019 fiddle (at turns hypnotic and atmospheric, at others dazzlingly fluent and nimble) gather with quiet, unshakable elegance. With drummer JT Bates (Andrew Bird, Taylor Swift) lending a loose, expressive touch and Kaufman creatively coloring the edges with everything from harmonium to transistor organ, Wild and Clear and Blue<\/em> trades restraint for momentum, pushing I\u2019m With Her\u2019s familiar blend of folk tale and personal confession into more urgent, electric terrain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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