Cat Power: Jukebox
Chan Marshall has a crack at the great and good.
Wednesday, 16, Jan 2008 05:42
Matador, out January 21st.
In a nutshell.
Twelve old songs made new
What's it all about?
Cat Power unveils 12 covers in her first album with new band Dirty Delta Blues. With Jim White of the Dirty Three, Gregg Foreman of Delta 72 and Judah Bauer of Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Chan Marshall retraces the steps of America's most notorious folk, blues and rock 'n' roll heroes. Frank Sinatra's New York takes on the character of a scarred ex-dreamer convincing herself the heart of the city is still waiting for her, Hank Williams' Rambling Man transforms into an ecstatic lone (Wo)man and a melancholic organ takes Joni Mitchell's Blue into the sad lounge bar it never wanted to see. This is Cat Power's second covers album - the first was 2000's The Covers Record - and it features a reinterpretation of one of Marshall's own, the Moonpix track Metal Heart, as well as one original, Dylan homage Song to Bobby.
Who's it by?
The story goes that the fractured songstress has stolen many an indie kid's heart with her stripped down bluesy tunes and near-naked emoting. As Cat Power demonstrates via the medium of song on this record, there's always another story. We want our lo-fi princesses vulnerable and all those stories about Chan stumbling off stage, nervy and broken, were too perfect, validating our suspicions that it's impossible to emote that much and not mean it. Thing is, my favourite Cat Power is a performance artist, purring love songs because she's called Cat and playing with singer-songwriter cliches like they're the biggest, funnest ball of string in the world. That's the Cat Power on Jukebox.
As an example.
"I once was lost but know I'm found, was blind but now I see." - Metal Heart (2008 Version)
Likelihood of a trip to the Grammys
She's Jools-friendly and your Dad has a crush on her, but Grammy probably turns her nose up at covers.
What the others say
"She's emoting, oh, yes - but this time it's with the authority of the great chanteuses, with the wisdom of a grande dame, with the defiance of the diva survivor." - Plan B
"Offers rich glimpses into her talent, but never unveils the fully satisfying spectrum of Chan singing Chan." - Spin
So is it any good?
This is Chan the performance artist, not Chan the broken girl-child. Listening to Metal Heart 2008 after the Moonpix version defines the difference - the 2008 track is a rousing call to the original's resigned introspection. The stereotypical cover is either a straightforward rehash or an attempt to replant a classic within a new genre. Jukebox doesn't do either, instead using vocal inflections, silences and sighs to invert the standards. Making old songs tell new stories isn't easy but all these songs do something to the originals. And this is the America of popular myth - you're taking on Dylan and Sinatra, you better get it right. If you don't, how are you different from the cookie-cutter singer songwriters plugging away in pubs and bars everywhere? If you stumble messily off stage, how are you different from the passive idiot-genius model that shadows so many singers? Because you're Cat Power, and you know what you're doing, and you mean it.
8/10
Sophie Jones