CAT POWER
The Greatest
(Matador)
·Chan Marshall picks up chops but dulls her claws.
With surprising strength and easy grace, Cat Power’s You Are Free fulfilled Chan Marshall’s potential as not only one of current music’s biggest voices, but also one of its finest songwriters. While much of Free’s extensive world touring was performed under a drunken haze she often seemed unable to crawl out of, there was always that voice and those songs somehow holding things together. Upon the announcement that Marshall was heading down to Memphis to work at the legendary Ardent Studios with a troop of classic session men, it was easy to wonder whether she’d even manage to get out of bed. Still, given the intense gravity held in but the smallest of notes in Marshall’s voice, the notion of a Dusty Springfield-style Cat Power Goes to Memphis was enough to prompt instant salivation.
The Greatest, in the end, isn’t quite the monumental revolution one would hope, but perhaps that expectation itself is an unfair one. Few other performers have quite the same striking charm as Marshall, yet it’s not as though she could ever be accurately credited with re-inventing the wheel. The shoo-bop-driven "Lived In Bars," the solo guitar wail of "Hate," and the onion layers of the "Moon River"-quoting opening epic title track provide more than ample evidence that Marshall deserves a place at the top of the heap. What dilutes The Greatest are the striking similarities and nearly uniform stature from one track to the next – by the time the stripped-back, untitled bonus track rolls around, it’s a relief to finally get back to one-on-one with Chan.
Far more than a pale imitation, The Greatest holds a wealth of secret beauties and turns – just not enough to live up to its title.
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