The 'full house' signs were up at the White Hart at West Hoathly for this tantalising Acoustic Sussex show from young US singer songwriter, Anais Mitchell.  She's been likened to Bob Dylan in his early days, and everyone was keen to hear what all the fuss is about.  Radio 2's Bob Harris had played a track from Anais' album just two nights before, increasing the sense of expectation.  

The crowd wasn't disappointed. Anais is first and foremost a poet but her messages are portrayed through the most exquisite songwriting style. She has a sweet and flexible voice, complemented by sensitive guitar picking.  At times fragile, other times disconcertingly powerful, Anais draws you into her personal view of the world - and the result was simply mesmerising.   

Having lived in Cairo at various times, her song, the politically-charged Before the Eyes of Storytelling Girls, was written from the point of view of a middle-aged Arab woman growing up in the 60s, living to see the optimism of the Nasser period later unravel.  The disarming He So Loved the World told the story of a Palestinian woman from Bethlehem, going home for Christmas ("Your home is a checkpoint now, welcome to the brawl"). The moving Two Kids was written after the outbreak of the Iraq war from the point of view of two children, one Iraqi, one American (including a verse sung in an Arabic).

More personal songs included I Wear Your Dress, about a dress with gold brocade that her grandmother gave her, and the sensitively sung Orion, written as a tribute to a musician friend from Austin who died. 

Anais is also working on what she described as folk opera, based on the Orpheus myth but set in a futuristic depression time. She treated the audience to a short section - beautifully sung, full of unusual chord changes and lyrically intriguing. This will be a CD to look out for!

 This was a sublime performance of well-crafted songs - poetry set to music.  It was the first date of a very short UK tour and the audience new they had seen someone very special indeed (two encores tells its own story). 

Martin