Album Review

A lot of misconceptions will likely be blown out of the water once you get a listen to Far, Regina Spektor’s third full-length album. First of all, anyone expecting a girl behind a Steinway dishing on her lost loves over adult-contemporary, lite-FM, piano-centric arrangements will be shocked to find a pretty impressive diversity of sounds on the album. I can say that I was honestly a little surprised by each song that came on when I listened to it for the first time.

Some would argue those surprises aren’t necessarily a good thing, especially when they include Spektor singing like a robot on “Machine,” dropping some bizarre hip-hop flavored with harpsichord and tuba in “Dance Anthem Of The 80’s,” or, most memorably of all, making scarily accurate dolphin noises on “Folding Chair.” This girl doesn’t shy away from her eccentricities, making her at times sound far more influenced by Kate Bush than Carole King.

Listen to “Machine”
Listen to “Dance Anthem of the 80’s”

You also shouldn’t expect many songs ready for easy consumption via TV ads or videos and the like, the kind that propelled her into the public consciousness on 2006’s Begin To Hope. Album opener “The Calculation” has that bouncy, head-bobbing simplicity that might cross over to a mainstream audience, but for the most part this is heady stuff. “Blue Lips” evolves from a spare open into a kind of tango beat, and “Genius Next Door” veers from an almost gothic vibe to operatic beauty.

Listen to “The Calculation”
Listen to “Genius Next Door”

Finally, you shouldn’t expect Spektor to sound like a puppet, even if she enlists the aid of big-name producers like Mike Elizondo, Jacknife Lee, and Jeff Lynne for the project. The production keeps a fine sheen on the proceedings, but it never overwhelms Spektor’s words and melodies, which is as it should be.

What you should expect from Far is to be caught off-guard throughout, for good and bad. If you can endure the bouts of preciousness that tend to outshine her prodigious talent, Spektor can really take you for some memorable rides. Combining 70’s balladry and gospel on “Human Of The Year” may be too big a leap to make without stumbling, but a random occurrence with a stranger is rendered, with the help of a heart-rending melody, into an unexpectedly moving tale on “The Wallet.”

Listen to “Human of the Year”
Listen to “The Wallet”

Lyrically, Spektor hews to that type of slice-of-life situation which can be blown up into grandeur by her soaring melodies and piercing vocals. “One More Time With Feeling” builds somehow into an uplifting chorus from the story of someone confined to a hospital bed. And the brass-tinged “Two Birds” is a sure shot of Ben Folds-style pop which mines true drama out of an age-old metaphor.

Listen to “One More Time with Feeling”
Listen to “Two Birds”

It’s a violent see-saw, sometimes within the course of a single song, when you listen to Spektor’s latest. But it’s not even remotely dull. And, if you can stop rolling your eyes for just a second while listening, you’ll find some beguilingly brilliant moments that will keep you coming back.

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