Cat Power - The Greatest

The new album by Cat Power is not a greatest hits record. Nor is it Cat Power’s greatest record. But The Greatest is still another fine offering by the aural narcotic known as Cat Power, A.K.A. Chan (pronounced Shaun) Marshall. As always, Ms. Marshall’s ghostly voice is the star of the show. Her voice can appear from out of nowhere, command the attention of everyone in the room, then disappear leaving only the slightest vaporous trail---the evocative power of her voice is difficult to over exaggerate. On previous Cat Power records, the accompanying instrumentation, often just piano or guitar, remained decidedly minimal, but the former Atlanta home girl did mix things up a bit on The Greatest by hiring Mabon “Teenie” Hodges and Leroy “Flick” Hodges, among other pioneers of Memphis soul to back her up (the Hodges brothers famously worked with Al Green back in the day --- "Ain’t No Sunshine When She’s Gone," "I’m So Tired Of Being Alone," "Take Me To The River"). Although the band still remains in the backround, they do provide a much richer and more subtle musical texture than the usual Spartan instrumentation of previous Cat Power records, using everything from pedal steel guitar, sax, organ, and strings to frame Ms. Marshall’s elegiac ballads. For the most part, the band stays on the soul side of the country/soul divide of their historic sound, and the combination works, as on the opening track for which the album was named. The Greatest is not surprisingly a tale of a failed boxer: “Once I wanted to be the greatest/No wind of waterfall could stall me/And then came the rush of the flood/Stars of night deep to dust.” It’s never clear what happens to the boxer although we are given some clue when she adds, “Lower me down/To culprit south…Lower me down/Pin me in/Secure the grounds/For the later parade.” And so it goes for most of the record, telling tales of woe and heartache in a way only Cat Power can. The most surprising thing about The Greatest is that not only do the Hodge brothers provide a slight spring in the step to some of these songs, but if you listen closely you can even pick out some welcome lyrical slivers of hopefulness buried in Chan Marshall’s usual melancholy. [www.catpowerthegreatest.com]