After successfully securing both chart and ‘art’ success with 'Begin to Hope', Regina Spektor and her team of producers have released 'Far'.
The new album maintains the smooth, pop-influenced, piano-fueled mischievousness we expect from her. Add in the occasional sad, and sometimes grand, song and you have a neat little formula for a hit album.
Fans of her 'Begin to Hope' will feel very comfortable when first listening to this record. Like an old friend come to dinner, none of the songs stray from the successful sounds of last recording. And here in lies the problem. 'Far' does not offer anything new. Regina does not seem to challenge her music or herself. Perhaps it is the influence of so many different producers trying to make an album which sounded just like ‘the last one’. It feels like Regina has been told what to do, what to record.
There are of course some wonderful songs on the album, first single 'Blue Lips', 'Eet', 'Anthem of the 80s' and 'Genius Next Door'. Then there is 'Machine', which sounds like a commercially viable version of the entire 'Soviet Kitch' album. (If you haven’t heard 'Soviet Kitch', get it!)
There is a clear tone of disappointment here, but in the end, it is a solid album and will undoubtedly be a success. There are more than enough good songs to ignore the poor ones. Not a brilliant follow to 'Begin to Hope', but still worth spending some time with.
Rating: 7/10
Contributed by --- Seb de Rob
The new album maintains the smooth, pop-influenced, piano-fueled mischievousness we expect from her. Add in the occasional sad, and sometimes grand, song and you have a neat little formula for a hit album.
Fans of her 'Begin to Hope' will feel very comfortable when first listening to this record. Like an old friend come to dinner, none of the songs stray from the successful sounds of last recording. And here in lies the problem. 'Far' does not offer anything new. Regina does not seem to challenge her music or herself. Perhaps it is the influence of so many different producers trying to make an album which sounded just like ‘the last one’. It feels like Regina has been told what to do, what to record.
There are of course some wonderful songs on the album, first single 'Blue Lips', 'Eet', 'Anthem of the 80s' and 'Genius Next Door'. Then there is 'Machine', which sounds like a commercially viable version of the entire 'Soviet Kitch' album. (If you haven’t heard 'Soviet Kitch', get it!)
There is a clear tone of disappointment here, but in the end, it is a solid album and will undoubtedly be a success. There are more than enough good songs to ignore the poor ones. Not a brilliant follow to 'Begin to Hope', but still worth spending some time with.
Rating: 7/10
Contributed by --- Seb de Rob
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