Cat Power + Dirty Projectors | Tracks

“Ruin”
Cat Power

Chan Marshall has a rich, mysterious voice that seems to emanate from two points in her body at once. Thus, a captivating duality infuses all she sings. Her songs are sexy and spooky, bliss and pain, sigh and scream. The 40-year-old’s strongest material as Cat Power utilizes nothing more than her vocals and one instrument, two tops. More recently (well, not that recently, as it’s been six years since her last batch of original material), Marshall has dabbled in American pop history, with standards and Memphis R&B. It never fit her, even if it sounded as gorgeous and sad as all the rest. On this comeback, she breaks new ground with a sort of Philip Glass disco, as a diamond piano figure twirls around a funky Chic bottom. Marshall, cool as ever, pronounces Mexico, “Meh-hee-coh.” In the chorus, she sings, “Bitchin’,” and sounds like a stoked ’80s skate rat. Or she’s ripping people for complaining about petty shit while others starve. Or she’s doing both.