Cat Power - Could We (Matador)
2/5
By: Chris O'Toole
Cat Power, the recording alias of Chan Marshall, demands a lot from her large fan base. Her main gimmick is that she reputedly (until recently, at least...) cannot perform live; either collapsing into emotional turmoil or drunken stupor each time she takes to the stage. Yet, she has managed to turn this into a positive facet of her character and her whimsical musings over her previous six records have counterbalanced her failure in the live circuit.
With her seventh album, 'The Greatest', Marshall has somewhat distanced herself from this damaged chanteuse persona, adopting a self-assured stance and rounding up some of the best session musicians in Memphis to flesh out her sound. Featuring Marbon 'Tennie' Hodges as co-songwriter / guitarist and Leroy 'Flick' Hodgeson bass, The Greatest is a mixture of old soul and new country, carrying both weight and whimsy.
On 'Could We', the third single from the album, Cat Power steps back from the introverted naval gazing that have characterised her previous decade of material and actually celebrates an afternoon love affair. A simple and innocent ode to new and fledgling love, 'Could We' has the innocence of childish pleasure and a delight that Chan has previously hidden from her music.
But unfortunately it also sounds like a childish song, an under-developed attempted at the whiskey and cigarettes of the Southern states of the Union that she is aiming for. This is a lightweight attempt to capture the heartfelt passion of her predecessors, and it is simply unbelievable that a performer who for years has been running crying from the stage is not a sage Southern belle, nonchalantly swaggering from one relationship to the next.
The heavy weight help may have moved Cat Power into a more profitable demographic, but sadly, her old weaknesses are still present.
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