Album of the Month: Regina Spektor's "Far"

By Natali Sachs
Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Natali Sachs chooses her album of the month for July -- she's enamored by the marvelous Miss Spektor.

My CD pick of the month is Regina Spektor's latest effort Far (Sire). I'm obsessed! Begin to Hope put Spektor on the map, and she's back again with a fresh batch of endearingly off-kilter songs that include everything from Spektor singing like a dolphin ("Folding Chair") to a song about finding someone's wallet and exploring its contents ("Wallet"). The Soviet-born American singer shows off her phenomenal piano abilities and unique, eclectic stylings. Her songs are clearly inspired by all genres of music, and different sorts of tales.

This album is incredibly diverse, but not completely unfamiliar from her previous works. Okay, it's an overused adjective to describe Spektor -- but damn it, she is cute, and she isn't afraid to push it as much as she can in Far, with the dolphin noises, the squeaks, the made-up words. The album is a great balance of the upbeat ("The Calculation") and the more melancholy ("Blue Lips"). Her lyrics and some of the ideas that inspire them are genius -- though admittedly often bizarre (e.g. "Eet") -- but Spektor creates her own design, world and creativity in her lyrics. She leaves it up to your imagination to get a mental picture of how you interpret her meanings.

I envision her songs to be like a big mansion with hundreds of rooms, all filled with different themes. They all evoke a different feeling and emotion. A standout track to me is "Blue Lips," with its intense and strong, sweeping orchestration and dramatic lyrics ("He stumbled into faith and thought / God, there is all there is / The pictures in his mind arose / And began to breathe / And all the gods and all the worlds / Began colliding on a backdrop of blue"). Spektor knows how to intertwine the slow piano beat into a fun and bubbly song. Her music inspires joyfulness in me, while also tapping into my deepest emotions.

If you're in the mood for something a little different and a little weird this summer, with plenty of brilliant musicianship and irresistible melodies, I recommend Far as my July CD pick.

My favorite tracks (in order):

• Blue Lips
• The Calculation
• Folding Chair

Watch 'Blue Lips' Live