Anais has a distinctive voice that is not in the least mainstream.  And her songwriting is much more storytelling than mainstream songs out there now.  You know - I really don't like mainstream very much, so it's no wonder that I like her works.  Having said that, I really didn't appreciate her sound until I saw her live - I also was like many upon hearing a recorded version of her voice with no live performance to match it to, saying to myself, not quite sure about this sound.   Hadestown, the new CD is so much more than Anais, however.  While she is the driving force having concieved the idea and writing the wonderful lyrics and melodies,  Michael Chorney's scoring of the orchestra and the other voices on the CD make for such a powerful and poignent retelling of an age old classic.  It is so worth a listen if you like storytelling put to song in a contempory yet classic fashion.