The Trackless Woods by Iris Dement (2015-08-03)

In order to hear this album you must LISTEN to it. That means: Stop everything else you are doing--STOP!!--pick up the CD liner notes and READ the poetry as you listen to Iris' music (no MP3 action allowed here). Even so it took me into the eighth song to even begin to get the depth of the music and its poetry. Otherwise, you will be thinking to yourself, "what happened to good ol' folksy Iris with her engaging rockabilly Nashville nasality? Where are the hooks?" The hooks are there, but they lie two or three levels away from what she has done in the past. I won't say the levels are "deeper" and I won't say the songs are "better" than what she has produced in the past. The levels are profoundly different, as they should be, because her music is not singing her lyrics but another's poetry. It all fits but you MUST pay attention. If you don't it's your loss. Just don't write a lousy review because you're lazy, that's all I'm asking.Why only four stars? Because I have only listened to the album 1.5 times. The fifth star is yet to come.

After two listenings, I'm giving Iris Dement's The Trackless Woods a full five stars. These eighteen tracks are fantastic. I cannot begin to imagine how challenging it must have been to set these poems to music, but she's done it. I'll have to listen to this a couple more times with the lyrics in hand, as it is sometimes difficult to follow Iris' voice, especially when she hits those high notes.

Iris DeMent has become my favorite folk singer and one of my favorite singer-songwriters all around (Leonard Cohen, Elvis Costello being the others). I have everything she's recorded. Her lyrics stick with me and I quote her all the time to others because of her insight and wisdom. This album shows her at her finest voice, but it also seems she is allowing herself to fly a little higher in her lyrical choices. These songs are not as easy to access but are like great poems--even if you're not sure what the poet means the beauty of it captivates. How glad I am of the day I accidentally discovered Iris DeMent! I've been blessed ever since.

The Trackless Woods is a rare confection. Part lovely lilting music, part heartfelt vocals, big part beautiful poetry lyrics, it stands out to me as the best thing I have heard yet this year.

I LOVE Iris Dement. As someone has already pointed out, she is something of an acquired taste, but there are only a handful of songs she's ever recorded that I didn't like. This album is growing on me every time I listen to it. I would not call it a departure from her previous recordings. The hauntingly beautiful, rich voice brings life to the poetry in a style that is truly Iris. Don't toss it out if you don't care for it the first time you listen. Listen a couple more times - at least. There are some beautiful pieces here.

This is a different listening experience for an Iris Dement fan. I saw her in concert a couple of years ago and she mentioned she was thinking about putting to music a collection of Russian poems and she has done it, and done it beautifully, hauntingly, with all the soul Iris has in her. If you find yourself struggling a little at first listen, because it is somewhat of a departure in style, due to Iris singing words she has not written from a Russian poet from long ago....give it another listen, and then another. I fell in love with this work.

Iris DeMent never disappoints. This album consists of poems byAnna Akhmatova, a Russian poetess whom Iris discovered shortly before she set her poems to music. If you love Iris you will love this.

Combining country singing with Russian poetry work surprisingly well! Well-done!!

This a glorious, heartfelt and beguiling collection of songs with DeMent never sounding purer or more emotional.The piano accompaniment to the majority of the tracks is tender, allowing the singer's soulful, fragile yet forceful voice to shine and capture the imagination. When she and the band gathered in her sitting room kick out, as in tracks "From An Airplane" and "Listening To Singing," DeMent's ability to be playful leaps out of the speakers.The back story to the album is very interesting as well and seamlessly sets the album in context.By a mile, one of the best albums of 2015. Thank you, Iris.

I loved this cd. Iris' heart tugging voice and the purity of the poems make compulsive listening. Iris' arrangements have a gospel ring 'That strain again, it has a dying fall' said the Bard, and who would have thought that the gentle application of a slide dobro guitar would have worked so well on a translation of Russian poems.I found it best to listen with the words to the poems before me for clarity. Sit quietly and prepare to be profoundly moved.

Iris DeMent at her very best. For some, Iris's voice is something of an acquired taste and usually associated with lighter, often humorous country style offerings. This album, The Trackless Woods, however, is a totally different emotional experience, made with obvious love for and closeness to the lyrics, a translated set of poems by Russian poet and political writer Anna Andreyevna Gorenko. A true work of art, especially if, like me, you already enjoy Iris DeMent's other albums and collaborations.

This is such a beautiful CD from Iris Dement. I like anything new she does and this is so lovely to listen to. A bit different from what shes done before I thought, but lovely. I have it in the car just now. Its a good buy, and if you like Iris Dement you will love this.

Rather unusual type of songs - Russian poetry put to music but very typical and classic Iris Dement treatment, piano excellent, very relaxing, Iris is an acquired taste - if you like Iris you will love this CD.