Will there ever be another Joanna Newsom album?
In 2015, when the world received the blessing of her outstanding fourth album, Divers, many people speculated how long it would be until they heard from Joanna Newsom again.
While it marked her fourth full-length record released over the span of 11 years, which in the grand scheme of things, isn’t a horrifically agonising series of waits, there was something looming over the minds of fans that suggested the next addition to her catalogue wasn’t going to be arriving anytime soon.
The gap between debut album The Milk-Eyed Mender and its follow-up, Ys, was only two years; triple LP Have One On Me rather understandably took another four years, and Divers took five after that. The gaps were becoming increasingly wider, and at the time, six or seven more years felt like a generous, if hefty, amount of time to wait.
At the time of writing, we’re now approaching the eleventh anniversary of Divers’ release, and little to no indication of whether the mercurial harpist will be forthcoming with another offering, whether in the near or distant future. Anyone who is an ardent fan will, of course, remain patient for such a thing to arrive, but considering how other artists make their audiences wait for a considerably shorter amount of time, you do then come to wonder what has been keeping Newsom so long by comparison.
Of course, not all is lost, and Newsom is not the sole example of someone who has taken a lengthy break. For a long time, people thought they’d have more of a chance catching fish in a field than hearing a third D’Angelo album, but unexpectedly, after 14 years, Black Messiah arrived as the long-awaited successor to Voodoo, before he then slipped out of the spotlight for another 11 years prior to his tragic passing. Fans of Fiona Apple will also know all too well how it feels to wait almost a decade between albums, while Frank Ocean’s biggest admirers still hold out a dwindling sense of hope that the singer will return after ten years since Blonde.
However, if you hadn’t noticed what all of these artists have in common aside from their huge gestation periods for new releases, it’s that they’re all solo artists who like to fill their albums with the most precise levels of detail, and none of them has ever released a full-length album that could be considered underwhelming. In fact, one could go to the extreme of saying that these artists, and several others who take the same approach, are only capable of creating masterpieces. If it means an era-defining body of work is what is bestowed upon us if we’re patient enough, then the wait is worth it.
That being said, why has it taken Newsom 11 years? The fact that a two-hour opus like Have One On Me can be made in under four years is remarkable, especially when you consider that during the interim period between albums, she was forced to undergo a period of vocal rest after she developed vocal cord nodules that prevented her from using her voice. While it may only be half the size of its predecessor, Divers is no less lavish than anything else she’s ever released, and that only took half a decade. 11 years suddenly begins to feel like a long time when you take all of this into account.
Of course, life can get in the way of creative pursuits, and given Newsom has had two children since the release of Divers, it ought not be frowned upon that this is what she’s chosen to devote her time to. Unfortunately, the application of gendered societal roles doesn’t align with the idea that women can also hold autonomy over their creative pursuits, and herein lies the grim reality of being a woman and a mother in music. Fans will say they support your every move, and yet, if you’re not adhering to a strict pattern of releasing music, you’re considered to not be doing enough to serve them, regardless of what’s going on in your personal life.
To tell the truth, Newsom hasn’t been entirely quiet, nor has she been entirely forgotten about. Her occasional turns in acting, as narrator in Paul Thomas Anderson’s Inherent Vice and alongside husband Andy Samberg in an episode of beloved sitcom Brooklyn Nine-Nine, show that she’s alive and well at the very least, and for those wondering if she’s matched these with the occasional musical activity, she has embarked on a number of brief tours and residencies where around seven new songs were showcased.
In May of 2026, her hometown of Nevada City in California also declared the 27th of the month to be ‘Joanna Newsom Day’ in her honour, something which is admittedly celebrated much more frequently in my own household. Newsom is still a beloved figure in the world of indie folk and a truly unique voice who deserves to be celebrated regardless of how much of a discography there is out there for people to digest.
Knowing Newsom’s reluctance to engage with certain streaming services and her complete admonition and rejection of social media, it shouldn’t be a surprise that she’s taken a considerable break from the spotlight. In all honesty, there could be plenty of music in the world that Newsom simply isn’t ready to share with a wider audience yet, waiting for the opportune moment to be delivered, but regardless of whether it exists, is in the works, or is yet to be conceived, it’s bound to be as spellbinding as everything else she’s done.
Listening to Newsom’s work, the labyrinthine storytelling and opulent compositions should make it abundantly obvious that there’s no point in rushing things just to satisfy the restless section of her fanbase. If you want an artist’s best work, you need to understand that they’re the ones in control of that, not you, and if her label, Drag City, have managed to remain patient for her next offering, then you can too.
