The Myth of Water: Go Into Your Life (2025)
Jeanie Thompson and Larry Mitchell
Listen to and purchase album via bandcamp HERE
Jeanie Thompson and Larry Mitchell
Listen to and purchase album via bandcamp HERE
Review by Rachel Nix.
As a longtime reader of Jeanie Thompson’s work, I have always been impressed by the rhythmic delivery of her poems—both on the page and at live readings. It’s that rhythm that carries a reader through her collections, inviting them to join her. I’d have never thought more could be made of her works. Then Jeanie Thompson met Larry Mitchell, a Grammy award-winning producer, engineer, and performer. Magic ensued.
“Dark Dancer” opens the album and with it, heartache is introduced with Mitchell’s guitar. In the notes, there’s a gentleness—one that hints of the emotion coming. When Thompson’s words arrive, they step in front of the music to deliver the story of Helen Keller being left by Peter Fagan:
Into my hand the stars poured light
and I knew you,
or so I thought.
There was no way for you to know my darkness,
understand my silence, but you persisted with your
questions, probing.
Written in the “voice” of Helen Keller, Thompson takes us through the night and into morning when Keller realizes Fagan never comes for her. Paired with the growing music, lifting and lowering the mood, Thompson’s delivery of this piece takes on a gutting depth:
Alone on Sister’s front porch,
without Teacher, scent of tea olive lingering, your promises
fade into morning’s traffic, until you are no more
than a rumble from the street
signaling day.
As the album goes on, your ears will fool you; mine did. I at times forgot that these poems were written and published long before being recorded for this project. If I had no previous knowledge of Thompson or Mitchell, I wouldn’t know which came first: poem or music. It’s as if these poems—already perfect to begin with—were reborn or written alongside the music from the beginning. While I’m still listening to Mitchell’s massive catalog of recordings, it’s more than apparent he isn’t just a self-focused musician; he’s someone who hears and sees others’ art and the intention of the artist. With that connection to Thompson’s writing and his deep appreciation for sound, he complements her work with his end of things being equally devoted to the words.
An award-winning poet and essayist whose work has claimed the adoration of readers everywhere, Thompson shows her vision holds no boundaries. Pairing with Mitchell was an unexpected move and an example of her prowess as an author. The poems from this album are read with confidence; vocal deliveries are presented with pristine clarity. As in readings of her previous work, Thompson doesn’t speak in any plain or hum-drum way. Her poems are written to be felt and you can feel everything in this album. My personal favorite is “River, Bridge, and Sky” for its imagery-rich reminiscence and the opportunity it gave for Mitchell to match musically. Grief-tinged but with a grateful resilience, Thompson delivers a performance that honors the sincere love Helen Keller had for Anne Sullivan. Mitchell offers a perfectly paced and instrument-diverse accompaniment which waits for and rises with Thompson’s words:
The world knows
you opened my hand
and names flew into the air.
But who can know
how you touched me
with your sight --
Begged me
to enter a land you
promised I would see.
This collection is a stunning duet by two of the most dedicated artists of our time. The amount of care taken by Mitchell both in providing original music and in producing the album is unrivaled. The poems, what started all of this, are some of Thompson’s finest writing. Individually, Jeanie Thompson and Larry Mitchell are wildly gifted. Paired together, they create the most cohesively sharp and beautifully balanced work of their careers. Listen to their album—spoil your senses.
Listen to and purchase the album via bandcamp:
https://jeaniethompson.bandcamp.com/album/the-myth-of-water-go-into-your-life
Purchase this collection and any of Jeanie Thompson’s other books:
https://jeaniethompson.com/book-orders/
Jeanie Thompson’s website: https://jeaniethompson.com/
Larry Mitchell’s website: https://www.larrymitchell.com/
As a longtime reader of Jeanie Thompson’s work, I have always been impressed by the rhythmic delivery of her poems—both on the page and at live readings. It’s that rhythm that carries a reader through her collections, inviting them to join her. I’d have never thought more could be made of her works. Then Jeanie Thompson met Larry Mitchell, a Grammy award-winning producer, engineer, and performer. Magic ensued.
“Dark Dancer” opens the album and with it, heartache is introduced with Mitchell’s guitar. In the notes, there’s a gentleness—one that hints of the emotion coming. When Thompson’s words arrive, they step in front of the music to deliver the story of Helen Keller being left by Peter Fagan:
Into my hand the stars poured light
and I knew you,
or so I thought.
There was no way for you to know my darkness,
understand my silence, but you persisted with your
questions, probing.
Written in the “voice” of Helen Keller, Thompson takes us through the night and into morning when Keller realizes Fagan never comes for her. Paired with the growing music, lifting and lowering the mood, Thompson’s delivery of this piece takes on a gutting depth:
Alone on Sister’s front porch,
without Teacher, scent of tea olive lingering, your promises
fade into morning’s traffic, until you are no more
than a rumble from the street
signaling day.
As the album goes on, your ears will fool you; mine did. I at times forgot that these poems were written and published long before being recorded for this project. If I had no previous knowledge of Thompson or Mitchell, I wouldn’t know which came first: poem or music. It’s as if these poems—already perfect to begin with—were reborn or written alongside the music from the beginning. While I’m still listening to Mitchell’s massive catalog of recordings, it’s more than apparent he isn’t just a self-focused musician; he’s someone who hears and sees others’ art and the intention of the artist. With that connection to Thompson’s writing and his deep appreciation for sound, he complements her work with his end of things being equally devoted to the words.
An award-winning poet and essayist whose work has claimed the adoration of readers everywhere, Thompson shows her vision holds no boundaries. Pairing with Mitchell was an unexpected move and an example of her prowess as an author. The poems from this album are read with confidence; vocal deliveries are presented with pristine clarity. As in readings of her previous work, Thompson doesn’t speak in any plain or hum-drum way. Her poems are written to be felt and you can feel everything in this album. My personal favorite is “River, Bridge, and Sky” for its imagery-rich reminiscence and the opportunity it gave for Mitchell to match musically. Grief-tinged but with a grateful resilience, Thompson delivers a performance that honors the sincere love Helen Keller had for Anne Sullivan. Mitchell offers a perfectly paced and instrument-diverse accompaniment which waits for and rises with Thompson’s words:
The world knows
you opened my hand
and names flew into the air.
But who can know
how you touched me
with your sight --
Begged me
to enter a land you
promised I would see.
This collection is a stunning duet by two of the most dedicated artists of our time. The amount of care taken by Mitchell both in providing original music and in producing the album is unrivaled. The poems, what started all of this, are some of Thompson’s finest writing. Individually, Jeanie Thompson and Larry Mitchell are wildly gifted. Paired together, they create the most cohesively sharp and beautifully balanced work of their careers. Listen to their album—spoil your senses.
Listen to and purchase the album via bandcamp:
https://jeaniethompson.bandcamp.com/album/the-myth-of-water-go-into-your-life
Purchase this collection and any of Jeanie Thompson’s other books:
https://jeaniethompson.com/book-orders/
Jeanie Thompson’s website: https://jeaniethompson.com/
Larry Mitchell’s website: https://www.larrymitchell.com/
Rachel Nix, author of I Don’t Go Down That Road Anymore, is a poet from Northwest Alabama and an editor for Screen Door Review. Her work has appeared in Salvation South, Sundog Lit, Up the Staircase Quarterly, and other venues.
