After a 4-year break filled with ups and downs, fans of indie-rock goddess Chan Marshal were expecting the new Cat Power album to be nothing short of brilliant. Sun is Marshall’s first full-length studio release since 2008’s Jukebox and Dark End of the Street EP. This new album features a bolder, fuller sound than her previous organic style. Marshall wrote and recorded all the music herself before handing it off to producer Philippe Zdar for the final touches.
Marshall definitely hasn’t lost any of her melancholia but her breathy vocals take a backseat to the industrialized instrumentation that dominates most of the tracks. After making a career on organic guitar-and-vocals style, it is definitely a huge departure for her but that doesn’t change the fact that most of the album is angsty dribble that would have been more at home in the 90’s.
“Cherokee” starts the album on a somber note and it doesn’t get much lighter from there. Musings on mortality (“Cherokee”), Complacency (“Ruin”), Time (“Always On My Own and “Nothing But Time”) and humanity in general (“Real Life”, “Human Being” and “Peace and Love”) all culminate in an album that barely rises above a blasé blur of sound. The raw power and intricate emotion Marshall emotes in her previous work is gone, replaced by overpowering instrumentation and monotonous vocals
Sun will be available via Matador Records on September 4th and you can catch Cat Power on tour later this year at these select dates.
Cat Power Tour Dates
11 OCTOBER 2012 – GRAND CENTRAL, MIAMI, FL
13 OCTOBER 2012 – CORONA CAPITAL MUSIC FESTIVAL, MEXICO CITY, MX
19 OCTOBER 2012 – METROPOLIS, MONTREAL, QC
20 OCTOBER 2012 – KOOL HAUS, TORONTO, ON
22 OCTOBER 2012 – 9:30 CLUB, WASHINGTON, DC
23 OCTOBER 2012 – HAMMERSTEIN BALLROOM, NEW YORK, NY
24 OCTOBER 2012 – HOUSE OF BLUES, BOSTON, MA
25 OCTOBER 2012 – ELECTRIC FACTORY, PHILADELPHIA, PA
27 OCTOBER 2012 – ROYAL OAK MUSIC THEATRE, DETROIT, MI
28 OCTOBER 2012 – RIVIERA, CHICAGO, IL
2 NOVEMBER 2012 – VOGUE THEATRE, VANCOUVER, BC
3 NOVEMBER 2012 – SHOWBOX SODO, SEATTLE, WA
4 NOVEMBER 2012 – CRYSTAL BALLROOM, PORTLAND, OR
6 NOVEMBER 2012 – FOX THEATER, OAKLAND, CA
8 NOVEMBER 2012 – HOLLYWOOD PALLADIUM, LOS ANGELES, CA