release date: Jan. 14, 2022
format: cd (BRC687, Japan)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,56]
producer: Chan Marshall
label: Domino / Beat - nationality:
Track highlights: 1. "Bad Religion" (live) - 3. "Pa Pa Power" - 6. "Against the Wind" - 8. "These Days" - 10. "I Had a Dream Joe" - 12. "I'll Be Seeing You" (4 / 5)
11th studio album by Cat Power following nearly 3½ years after Wanderer (Oct. 2018) is Power's first with Domino after leaving Matador. Cat Power has previously made covers and made it one of her strongest assets. And as the title here suggests, this one appears as a sequel to her The Covers Record from 2000. This new selection more or less copies the idea of covering songs from a large variety of styles and periods. The diversity in the original material is extremely wide, as she covers songs of neo-soul (Frank Ocean), vocal jazz (Billie Holiday), country rock (Bob Seger), celtic rock (The Pogues), folk pop (Jackson Browne), and punk blues (Nick Cave), just to mention one half of the songs. It's an extreme span, although, yes, Cat Power ensures stylistic connection in these new arrangements. I'm just not entirely convinced about the idea to grab songs from any musical shelf to see if it will work. It's possible, yes, but is it that original? And then, she even challenges the idea of having a mutual foundation in the arrangements 'cause there is no common foundation there. "I Had a Dream Joe" comes so close to the original that it somehow sticks out, and several other songs do exactly that - so there goes coherency like it does on her 2000 album. In that regard it's somewhat like repeating what could have been an obvious mistake from her first covers album, although, this new collection betters the former. Chan Marshall is a gifted arranger, and she could possibly have done better when chosing original songs. What on the other hand work really well, is her intense emmotional contribution to well-known songs. She seems capable of covering whatever song and still make it hers. She's an absolute wonderful interpretor and performer - just love that vocal.
Recommendation: probably mostly for fans.
