"Once I wanted to be the greatest."
Chan Marshall seems to exist in a space just outside the normal world. Her own little safe place, where she creates a batch of songs and then gives them to the world, hoping that someone will find them, appreciate them, care for them.
There is something gentle and quiet about her latest offering. She dabbles in a hint of country rhythm, random horns, meditations on loss and love that never really sound sad. It is her voice; confident, dusky, occasionally playful, never letting sentimentalism creep into it to the point of sounding sugary or bland.
The album starts out strong with standout tracks "The Greatest" and "Could We". It slips into a few songs that don't seem fully realized or just don't work; "Islands" and "After It All" feel light and overpowered by the better tracks that precede them, things really don't pick up again until a few tracks later. "Willie" starts the latter third of the disc, leading up to the solid finale of "Hate" and "Love and Communication".
Overall, Marshall doesn't reach the heights of Moon Pix or You Are Free, but there's enough here to satisfy Cat Power fans.
Rating: straight.
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