I generally can’t stand female vocalists. There are a few exceptions. Regina Spektor is always an exception. Regina Spektor’s five album discography is brilliant, and her latest release, Far, beautifully fluctuates between playful songs and gloomy, serious ones. Sometimes the songs themselves combine surprisingly solemn lyrics with happier melodies.
“Machine” is a deliciously creepy number that evokes Smashing Pumpkins. “I am downloaded daily, I am part of a composite,” Regina sings. The ominous chord progression sounds like it should be background music in a haunted house.
Another favourite, “Two Birds”, is reminiscent of Regina’s older work, and her vocals soar brilliantly as she sings about, you guessed it, a pair of birds.
I remember reading (in the latest issue of SPIN) that the songs found on Far were actually produced by four different producers. This doesn’t affect the cohesion of the album at all: Far flows better than most records produced by one person. This just serves to show how talented Regina is and how groundbreaking her work actually is: she manages to retain her individuality and unique song-writing in each of her endeavours.
Far is surprisingly mature, and it moves away from the super catchy quality of her previous album, Begin to Hope. Instead, it is a collection of thirteen excellent tracks that get better with each listen, much more layered and varied than anything she’s ever released. While the first half of the album is a lot more striking and powerful than the latter half, the entire album is extremely solid.
Highly recommended.
4.2/5
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