Regina Spektor - What We Saw From The Cheap Seats (19/06/2012)
Regina Spektor is back with her piano-driven, off-kilter pop. I know what you're thinking. You're thinking, “most importantly, is there another 'Samson' on What We Saw From The Cheap Seats?” The short answer is no. In her defence, it's a peak near-impossible to reach again.
The whimsical kookiness we are used to us still evident, yet this latest offering is much more accessible than the likes of Soviet Kitsch. It is also more vanilla. On What We Saw From The Cheap Seats, it is ironically the lead single 'All The Rowboats' that is the most daring, with its almost-gothic piano and pounding drums.
Regina's unique and haunting vocals are her strongest selling point, and her impeccable phrasing of lyrics that would be tongue-twisting for us mere mortals. Her tightly packed lyrical content is at its most gutpunching on 'All The Rowboats'.
Some of the tracks herein are balladic in their intonations, with chord progressions that are sometimes predictable but always pretty. Others are effortless and pure pop, proving this Queen of Quirk is capable of crafting catchy vignettes with her eyes closed. An example of the latter is 'Don't Leave Me [Ne Me Quitte Pas]' with its playful trumpet, on which she flirts with foreign language (and not for the last time).
The album closes with the acoustic, softly-strummed 'Jessica', which is as short as it is sweet. Another delicate slow-waltz is 'Firewood', which is charming if you can look past the sentimental schmaltz of lyrics such as 'love what you have and you'll have more love'. I would enjoy it even more if it was three minutes, not five.
All in all, Regina continues to push boundaries, just sometimes in the wrong direction.
Rebecca McCann
The whimsical kookiness we are used to us still evident, yet this latest offering is much more accessible than the likes of Soviet Kitsch. It is also more vanilla. On What We Saw From The Cheap Seats, it is ironically the lead single 'All The Rowboats' that is the most daring, with its almost-gothic piano and pounding drums.
Regina's unique and haunting vocals are her strongest selling point, and her impeccable phrasing of lyrics that would be tongue-twisting for us mere mortals. Her tightly packed lyrical content is at its most gutpunching on 'All The Rowboats'.
Some of the tracks herein are balladic in their intonations, with chord progressions that are sometimes predictable but always pretty. Others are effortless and pure pop, proving this Queen of Quirk is capable of crafting catchy vignettes with her eyes closed. An example of the latter is 'Don't Leave Me [Ne Me Quitte Pas]' with its playful trumpet, on which she flirts with foreign language (and not for the last time).
The album closes with the acoustic, softly-strummed 'Jessica', which is as short as it is sweet. Another delicate slow-waltz is 'Firewood', which is charming if you can look past the sentimental schmaltz of lyrics such as 'love what you have and you'll have more love'. I would enjoy it even more if it was three minutes, not five.
All in all, Regina continues to push boundaries, just sometimes in the wrong direction.
Rebecca McCann