MUSIC REVIEWS
Regina Spektor - Begin to Hope
David Allun Jones
If you attempted to try to categorize Soviet-born singer-songwriter Regina Spektor in relation to her peers, you could say she brings together Fiona Apple’s lyrical wackiness, Bjork’s emotive yodels and Norah Jones’ jazz-pop intimacy for an engaging exercise in idiosyncratic anti-folk piano-pop. But even that description wouldn’t completely nail the weird scope of talent displayed on her fourth album, Begin To Hope. At it’s core, her music is spellbindingly gorgeous, anchored by ear-pleasing piano melodies and a wide-ranged vocal that can convincingly play the wide-eyed angel or smoky jazz chanteuse. But just so you’re not bored to tears with another self-important classically trained artist you’re supposed to like but can’t stand, Regina grabs you with an oft-kilter choice of lyrical concepts that demonstrates her appeal to the hipster sect.
Within it’s twelve tracks, Spektor haphazardly defends the guilty pleasure of Guns N Roses’ rock epics (“We heard November Rai/ The solo’s real long/ But it’s a pretty song”), sings of an impassioned love triangle involving Samson and Delilah (“Samson”), steals the melody of Doris Troy’s “Just One Look” in a tale of distant obsession involving cocaine and dreams of orca whales (“The Hotel Song”) and then offers her own tribute of sorts to Billie Holliday on the engrossing “Lady” (“Lady sings the blues so well/ As if she mean it/ As if it’s hell down here in this smoke-filled world”). All this is set to the soundtrack of her varied piano playing which quickly bounces back and forth from dramatic operatic solos to whimsical music box simplicity. Producer David Kahne (The Strokes, Sugar Ray, Eric Clapton) does his best to make this more than a one-woman show, dulling her eccentric edges with a polished sheen and expanding on her singular performances with cheap drum machines and grungy guitars. Those familiar with her earlier self-released material may balk at the major label influence but Kahne’s input does aid in digesting an album that at times feels too quirky to absorb.
Not everyone will have the patience to deal with Begin To Hope’s unconcerned oddness and ambiguous storylines, making this one of those albums that you either immediately adore or abhor on first listen, with a strong argument for either stance. But Spektor deserves credit for sticking true to her guns and creating something that no one else can fully emulate or easily pigeonhole in criticism.
