Review: The queen of the cover version returns: Cat Power drops delightfully devastating new album Covers

: by Joe Sharratt; in Reviews; on 19 January 2022

Very few artists specialise in the cover version as emphatically as Chan Marshall, otherwise known as Cat Power, the soulful singer songwriter whose first covers record, released in 2000, was about as perfect as a covers collection can be. That record included interpretations of tracks by artists including The Rolling Stones, The Velvet Underground, Moby Grape and Bob Dylan, among others. It was an almost uniquely rich dive into the meaning these songs carry, and a quite stunning set of sparse musical arrangements that linger long in the memory.

But the Cat Power of more than two decades ago is very different to the Cat Power of today. At one point, so consumed was she with anxiety, that her live shows gained a reputation for frequently descending into rambling malfunctions, which then perversely attracted people who would turn up to shows almost wishing Marshall collapsed under the pressure. In the late nineties so great was the problem that she walked away from music altogether, and spent time in rehab for alcohol and prescription drug addiction.

Thankfully she was inspired to return by a period of intense nightmares that would influence her comeback record, 1998’s absolutely breathtaking Moon Pix. Further success followed with The Greatest in 2003, a record that suggested Marshall had conquered her demons, and was back to doing what she does best. A further (almost) covers record – 2008’s Jukebox – featured songs by the likes of Janis Joplin, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, The Highwaymen, and Hank Williams and reached number twelve in the US albums chart.

Her last studio album Wanderer was released in 2018 after a switch to a new record label (Domino Music), and coincided with Marshall becoming a mother. As such that record is imbued with a confidence and a sense of peace, which is where Covers, Marshall’s new collection of cover songs, comes in.

Marshall’s music has always been memorable for its haunting emotional weight, it’s almost impossible fragility wrapped up in those distinctive, smokey, vocals for which she is so loved. The question, going into Covers, is in light of all the positivity now present in Marshall’s life, does that delicate beauty still exist? Well, within the opening few seconds of Frank Ocean’s ‘Bad Religion’, it’s supremely clear that that beating heart is still very much alive and kicking.

‘Pa Pa Power’ was a song I had to Google, only to discover it’s by an outfit I’d also never heard of – the band of none other than Hollywood A-lister Ryan Gosling. It’s a simmering effort with the feel of a protest song (“Burn the streets / Burn the cars”), while ‘White Mustang’ is a beguiling take on Lana Del Rey’s original, an artist who Marshall has covered before and toured with.

The Pogues’ ‘A Pair Of Brown Eyes’ feels like a hymn under Marshall’s control, while Jackson Browne’s ‘These Days’ embodies that fragility perfectly. ‘I Had A Dream Joe’ (Nick Cave) is punchy and operatic, and The Replacement’s ‘Here Comes A Regular’ is given a stunningly gorgeous piano-only makeover, transforming from the acoustic guitar based original, but losing none of the melancholy in translation.

Closing track ‘I’ll Be Seeing You’ is inspired by some of the pains and losses that have permeated Marshall’s life over the last few years, including the loss of close friend and former collaborator Phillipe Zdar, who passed away in 2019. “When people who you love have been taken from you, there’s always a song that holds their memory in your mind,” Marshall explains in a press release on the Domino Music website. “It’s a conversation with those on the other side, and it’s really important for me to reach out to people that way.”

In support of the new album, Marshall is about to embark on a 32-date US tour (Covid permitting). Such a tour would have been shrouded in doubt in the past owing to Marshall’s problems. It’s an absolute joy to see her now alive and well, and more than that, thriving. Covers is a record that carries the accomplishment of survival and the power of music in our lives for good, and one of which Marshall will rightly be immensely proud.

Covers tracklist: