Sun

Sun

by Cat Power
Sun

Sun

by Cat Power

Vinyl LP(Long Playing Record)

$31.99 
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Overview

Six years between albums would be a lifetime for many artists, but Cat Power's Chan Marshall managed to pack a couple of lifetimes' worth of experiences between The Greatest and Sun. A happy relationship, health issues, and writer's block were among the many things that kept her away from music during that time, and with a life that full, it's no wonder that this album, Marshall's ninth set of original songs, is so different than the one that came before it. Instead of working with veteran musicians, she wrote, recorded, and produced Sun on her own, added electronic instruments to her repertoire, and enlisted Cassius' Philippe Zdar to help with the mixing duties (which he did with a minimum of interference). While it's miles away from The Greatest's retro-soul, Sun isn't Cat Power-goes-electro, either; anyone fearing relentless house beats or an onslaught of cheesy synths should have their fears calmed by the beautiful opening track "Cherokee," where a few tasteful keyboards rev up the yearning chorus, and skittering beats fit right in with the guitar and piano. The song also introduces Sun's remarkably spare production aesthetic, which sounds all the more striking coming after The Greatest's lushness; even if this album is more consciously modern-sounding than its predecessor, it's also a lot less slick. Actually, the willingness and ability to mix, bend, and blend old and new sounds that Marshall shows here isn't such a far cry from the more sonically adventurous moments on Moon Pix and especially You Are Free; she's just expanding on that instinct and adding a more hopeful songwriting bent. What really matters, and what really shines on Sun, is Marshall's voice, which sounds so unabashedly human and lived-in that not even the Auto-Tune on songs such as "3,6,9" can tweak the grit out of it. These songs give Marshall some of the widest-ranging backdrops she's ever had for that voice, whether it's more overtly electronic tracks such as the hypnotic title cut and the ominous "Silent Machine," which suddenly glitches up like ripping the skin off an android, or the more familiar but still compelling territory of "Human Being"'s rolling blues or the delicate piano ballad "Manhattan," which sparkles like freshly fallen snow. Sun also boasts some of her happiest-sounding songs, in particular "Nothin' But Time," an 11-minute epic dedicated to her ex-boyfriend Giovanni Ribisi's teen daughter, to whom Marshall sings "You got nothin' but time/And it ain't got nothin' on you." It seems like the perfect way to end the album, until the actual closing track "Peace and Love," which is the closest Marshall has gotten to hip-hop, brings things to an end with unexpected but welcome humor. Sun lives up to its name, but its album cover is more revealing: like the rainbow crossing Marshall's face, these songs are the meeting point between a stormy past and optimism for the future. ~ Heather Phares

Product Details

Release Date: 09/04/2012
Label: Matador
UPC: 0744861077312

Tracks

  1. Cherokee
  2. Sun
  3. Ruin
  4. 3,6,9
  5. Always On My Own
  6. Real Life
  7. Human Being
  8. Manhattan
  9. Silent Machine
  10. Nothin But Time
  11. Peace And Love

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Cat Power   Primary Artist
Judah Bauer   Guitar
Erik Paparazzi   Bass
Gregg Foreman   Piano
Iggy Pop   Guest Artist
Jim White   Drums

Technical Credits

Joe Brady   Assistant Engineer
Judah Bauer   Arranger
Mike Laza   Engineer
Zdar   Mixing
Cat Power   Composer
Chan Marshall   Producer,Instrumentation
Brian LeBarton   Engineer
Marc Lee   Engineer
Jon Tehel   Assistant Engineer
Alyssa Pittaluga   Engineer,Assistant Engineer
Alex Graupera   Engineer,Assistant Engineer
Rick Bryant   Engineer
Julien Naudin   Assistant Engineer
Jeff Dominguez   Arranger,Engineer
Phillip Broussard Jr.   Engineer
Drew Manne   Engineer
Nick Brown   Assistant Engineer
Bastien Vandevelde   Engineer,Assistant Engineer
Jordan Boulay   Assistant Engineer
Matt Knoble   Engineer
Chris Warren   Assistant Engineer
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