Cat Power — Jukebox

• This review may soon be coming to a Craccum near you.

Chan Marshall, who records under the moniker Cat Power, sings in a lush, ethereal tone that sits somewhere between Beth Orton and Beth Gibbons. Her live shows are distinguished by smoky vocals and a loose, unscripted feeling which comes to the fore when she blends songs into one another. On her latest album, Jukebox, she adds a backing section – Dirty Delta Blues – and refines her vocal technique to somewhere between Leslie Feist and Dusty Springfield.

Comprised almost exclusively of covers –à la the 2000 release The Covers Record – the new record opens with a slimmed-down, bluesy riff on Frank Sinatra’s classic “New York, New York”. This segues nicely into Marshall’s take on Hank Williams’ “Ramblin’ (Wo)man”, a track that sounds like it would be equally at home as background music in a café and a blues festival. “Metal Heart”, a track originally released on Cat Power’s 1998 album Moon Pix, sees Marshall exhibit her lower register to great effect, especially when combined with .the great blues ensemble she has assembled.

“Silver Stallion” and “Lord Help the Poor and Needy” both switch focus and musical style to a more intimate, folk-influenced sound, with only a few acoustic and slide guitars backing those lucid airy vocals. “Aretha, Sing One For Me” is a soulful gospel number, and “Lost Someone” is similar in its sound, but the latter is slower and more lush-sounding; it’s also one of the most beautiful and heartfelt tracks on the record. “Song For Bobby,” one of only two original tracks on the record, is a loving tribute to one of the folk movement’s most masterful and prolific singer-songwriters, Bob Dylan. “I’ve always wanted to tell you / But I never had the chance…” sings Marshall, as she approximates Dylan’s whispy vocal style — a musical equivalent, I suppose, to Cate Blanchett’s stellar on-screen performance in Todd Haynes’ forthcoming pseudo-biopic I’m Not There, suppositions on the myriad personae of Dylan. “I Believe In You”, originally from Dylan’s 1979 masterpiece Slow Train Coming, is here faithfully reproduced and has new life breathed into it by a backing of jazzy keys and a groovy percussion section.

“Don’t Explain” and “A Woman Left Lonely”, originally by Billie Holiday and Janis Joplin respectively, are somewhat dark, introspective meditations on life and love executed perfectly by Marshall and her backing band. “Blue,” the final track on the record, is ever darker sounding, and perfect as a closing track with its underlying undulating organ tracks fading into the dark of night as Marshall whispers lyrics originally recorded by Joni Mitchell on her 1971 album of the same name.

Throughout all these subtle changes in style and sound, the album remains cohesive and each track links nicely into the next. There’s a highly recommended double-disc edition of the album which features a cover of Nick Cave’s Breathless, along with four other bonus tracks.

Look out for Chan Marshall’s big screen début later in the year in Wong Kar Wei’s foray into English-language filmmaking, My Blueberry Nights, opposite Jude Law, Rachael Weisz, Natalie Portman and Norah Jones. Cat Power plays the Powerstation on March 4; tickets from Real Groovy and Ticketmaster. Jukebox is out now on CD and double LP through Matador Records.

~ by Hugh on January 20, 2008.