Regina Spektor - Far

Tue 28th Jul, 2009 in Music Reviews

The bad news first: After the winning quirkiness of Soviet Kitsch and the artistic and commercial breakthrough that was Begin to Hope, Far is something of a backward step. It’s certainly a less interesting record than the latter and not blessed with songs as intimate and striking as Samson, Hotel Song and Fidelity. Yet there is still much to enjoy here, and those who can get past the record’s relentless cuteness and occasional lapses into faux-profundity will find some of Spektor’s strongest songs in its second half.

Featuring no less than four high-profile producers (Mike Elizondo, Jacknife Lee, Jeff Lynne and David Kahne), Far is, surprisingly enough, very much a cohesive record. It’s tied together by a more expansive and lush sound than before, with drum machines and beds of keyboards providing the base on which Spektor’s freewheeling vocal lines and insistent piano melodies rest. If bigger production is not always better, then the musical backdrop is at least fitting for songs that are generally less personal, trading an autobiographical feel for more universal narratives.

Cynics will tire of these narratives early. The opening track The Calculation features a couple who “made (their) own computer out of macaroni pieces” and enough loved-up imagery to satisfy those on a low-sugar diet for months. The sentimentality continues on the somewhat overblown Wallet, which celebrates the finding of a stranger’s wallet and Laughing With, which seems tailor-made to infuriate cranky atheist types everywhere. Tellingly, the record’s most frequently used word is ‘sweet’, which features prominently in the additive, almost-twee Dance Anthem of the ‘80s and the playful, strangely likeable Eet, the title of which is a made-up word, which, helpfully, also rhymes with ‘feet’ and ‘beat’.

Much of Far succeeds on the back of what could be called Spektor’s musical charisma. Songs that rightfully seem to belong on the soundtrack for a Sandra Bullock rom-com come across as charming and just a little kooky. Lyrics that probably read like hippy drivel on paper get you singing along. Take for instance Folding Chair, perhaps the most enduring song in this collection. Despite lyrics like “The sea is just a wetter version of the skies” and “Don’t make frowns, you silly clown”, you’re pulled in by the melody, which is so strong and instantly memorable you wonder why nobody has come up with it before.

Then again, nobody has ever thought of imitating a dolphin song as Spektor does here, by way of a bridge. But, somehow, it works. This isn’t Spektor’s finest hour, but you’d have to really put some effort into not liking it.

Regina Spektor’s Far is out now on Warner Music.