Relive some Memphis soulfulness with Cat Power's latest offering
Through her new record 'The Greatest' Chan Marshall, known universally as Cat Power, has aspired to bring the soul of Memphis back to a living and breathing form. Her twelve songs sculptured as a paean to those unmistakable Hi sounds of the super seventies have resurrected the soft swing tempo of the time and, along with the music doing that, so has her line-up of musicians featured on this album, including Al Green's guitarist and song-writing partner Mabon "Teenie" Hodges on guitar for the most part.
It starts as it means to carry on, as a lovely sway from side to side, shoulders relaxing down and eyelids at half-mast for this laid back ride through some bluesy serenity. 'The Greatest' is the first track, with a very lazy drum beat, brushes on the snare and cymbals crashing and resonating on and on like small particles rattling on a shimmering metallic surface and a voice soft and caressing and mingling with the piano; it's a quiet and calm introduction to the next forty minutes of your life that will be conquered by soulful melodies and soothing swing.
'Living Proof' coming in second is really quite grabbing with its glorious Hammond organ on the go, that staple sound of a music that lays you down to rest at the same time as furthering your zest for getting up and living. This album conveys the sense of a sleepy, dusty lived-in bar in the evening transmuting into night, sparsely populated but filling up, a girl sat on the piano or with her guitar, pouring out soulful numbers and catching the undivided attention of everyone in the room at certain moments in her repertoire.
'Could We' is a special song, there's such a juicy feel to it that encapsulates you, captivating the senses and also dulling them with a sedation you're very happy to be experiencing. 'Willie' is another lovely tune, simple and effective and yet structured with an intricacy you could well take time to penetrate into, if you were not inclined to just sit back and feel the music.
Her voice is so full, like a cylindrical tube of articulated wholesome truth coming out to you from your speakers, it's never more sweet or as rounded as it is on the slow and painfully-tinged, piano-led 'Where Is My Love' with its haunting viola backdrop and whispered meaning. The whole affair becomes slower after that with the next track 'The Moon' following in the same vein, perfect for night time listening as the stars poke their heads out of the sky, but it does need saving by a song that displays a bit more life and that's found in 'Islands,' a more country type feel to it, reflective and sweeping, swelling beautifully along for its very short running time.
'Hate' is a powerful tune, hitting the same spots as strong and prominent female acts have hit so well in the past, very possible to liken Cat Power to greats such as Nancy Sinatra or Ella Fitzgerald through this track. And then it's onto 'Love And Communication' to end this soft and gentle album off...
It starts with the biggest intro of the whole record yet and runs with a pace punctuated by the percussion and violin stabs alike, it stands apart from the rest of the music, like the beautiful morning after the night that rest of the record up until then was. It's a classy ender that sails it off in style and gets it stuck in your brain as something to return to. Overall, for a relaxing and soulfully sombre affair, wrought with solace and solitude this is where to come. Cat Power's 'The Greatest' is gripping and releasing at the same time, it does well to provide a soundtrack to a place that many other musicians stray away from, or at least a place they've been straying away from since the days of Al Green and the Memphis scene and until now...