Staff Reviews

Cat Power - Sun

Review by Hayley Avron

Sun is the most rounded and accomplished album of Cat Power’s career.»

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initial pressing housed in a digipack. 'sun' is the new studio album from cat power. six years after her last album of original material ('the greatest', 2006), chan marshall has moved on from her collaborative forays into memphis soul and delta blues. she wrote, played, recorded and produced the entirety of 'sun' by herself, a statement of complete control that is echoed in the songs' themes. marshall calls 'sun' - "a rebirth," which is exactly what this confident, ambitious, charismatic record feels like. "moon pix (1998) was about extreme isolation and survival in the crazy struggle," she says. "sun is don't look back, pick up, and go confidently into your own future, to personal power and fulfilment." the music on 'sun' employs a sweeping stylistic palette: there's the classic cat power haunting guitar and provocative vocal hook in 'cherokee' ("marry me to the sky...bury me upside down"); the irresistible latin-sounding nine-piano loop of 'ruin'; upbeat, almost dancey electronic anthems like 'real life' and '3,6,9'; and the stirring, 8-minute epic 'nothin but time,' featuring a vocal cameo by iggy pop. the swagger of 'silent machine' brings to mind mid-70s jagger, contrasted with the unusual, sparse production of 'always on my own'. the narrative arc of the record is deeply optimistic; the music is defiantly modern and global. though devoid of grave bedroom confessionals, 'sun' is possibly cat power's most personal album to date. for all its layered expansiveness, it is as handcrafted as her debut, and never has a cat power album so paralleled her personality and state of mind - channelling her humour, anger, deep empathy, musical inspirations, technical skill, and spiritual inquiry into an album that's both surprising and comforting. those versed in the cat power discography will detect elements of 2003's landmark album 'you are free', which experimented with vocal forms and beats borrowed from urban music, and the spellbinding authority of songs like 'american flag'. sonically, however, with credit to mixer philippe zdar (phoenix, chromeo, beastie boys), 'sun' is incredibly fresh, reflecting its forward-looking mindset. 'sun' was recorded over the past three years in malibu (in a studio she built herself), silver lake (in the dust brothers' studio the boat), miami (south beach studios), and paris (motorbass), where she mixed with zdar in spring 2012.
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