Cat Power - Jukebox

The changing career of Chan Marshall, under her ever-bemusing moniker Cat Power, is perhaps most easily illustrated in a comparison of her two LPs of cover versions. The first, the rather unimaginatively titled The Covers Record, came at a crossroads in her career, before she made the transition from kooky, jazzy singer-songwriter to indie-darling with the acclaimed You Are Free. This new release, under the all-too-obvious name of Jukebox, comes off the back of both her biggest album to date, The Greatest, and a privately turbulent time which saw her successfully battling alcohol problems.

Like her previous release proper, Jukebox sees Marshall on the periphery of the mainstream, her once lusty, breathless vocal again giving way to a more bolshy sound, the charming minimalism of gems like I Don’t Blame You replaced by the fuller sound of backing band the Dirty Delta Blues (making their first appearance on a Power record). Whilst the delivery itself may have changed, the sentiment behind it hasn’t; Marshall remains one of the most delightfully earnest singers in music today, capable of being as heart-rending as she is heart-warming, without ever degenerating into schmaltz or slush. It’s the occasionally heavy handed support of her band that can grate, however.

As on The Covers Record, Marshall does not so much cover a track, as break it down, tear it apart and piece it back together. Possibly in the dark. Anyone who’s heard that album’s reworking of the Rolling Stones’ supposedly-untouchable Satisfaction should not be surprised by opener, Theme from New York, New York, but they will be.

(Yes, that New York, New York. Yes, the Sinatra one.)

Gone is the triumphant leg-waving, in is a dreamy ode to her adopted home city, almost indistinguishable from the original, and certainly unidentifiable from the opening bars; this is a world away from the cliché that closed a million wedding receptions.

The reworking theme continues throughout the rest of the record, transforming works as diverse as that of Billie Holiday (Don’t Explain) and James Brown (Lost Someone), as well as traditional American song Lord, Help the Poor and Needy. She even takes to adapting a song of her own: Metal Heart originally appeared on 1998’s Moon Pix album. Both have their merits, although on Jukebox it is a tad too glossy, again underlining the changes in Marshall’s approach.

An album of covers will invariably hint at influences and produce hints of tributes, and Bob Dylan is the subject of deification here. The only original track on the album is Song to Bobby, which sees Marshall recalling her attempts to meet her idol, and there’s also an appropriation of I Believe in You, which is a highlight. The opening of Song to Bobby even has Marshall apparently attempting to sing in a Dylan-style drawl as she laments those missed opportunities in a bittersweet homage. However, anybody interested in Power/Dylan crossovers could do worse than check out her flawless attempt at Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again, recorded for the I’m Not There biopic.

With her problems behind her, the current Bob Dylan revivalism, and a cleaner, more accessible sound, Jukebox could well be the album that introduces many to Cat Power. It could win her a new breed of fans, but it’ll be her next original release that will decide how older fans feel about her ever-more polished sounds and their flirtation with the mainstream, as well as the burgeoning amount of press hype this brings. Jukebox is by no means a poor album, but it’s also in no way one to be held up alongside You are Free.