Regina Spektor – Being To Hope

Artist: Regina Spektor

Title: Being To Hope

Label: Sire

Rating: 9/10

FILE UNDER: Pop-kitsch.

CORPORATE LINE: Regina Spektor’s last album, 2004’s Soviet Kitsch, garnered praise from Time, Rolling Stone, Spin, Vanity Fair, The New York Times and many others. But this Russian-born, Bronx-bred singer-songwriter-pianist, who emerged from the NYC café circuit, continues to expand her vision. On Begin To Hope, produced by David Kahne (The Strokes, Sublime, Sugar Ray), she broadens here palette with electric guitar, drum machines and seductive electronic loops, finding new canvases for her provocative vocal style. Hope for pop has arrived with Regina Spektor.

THE GOOD:
“Fidelity” – This is a pretty pop song that will have you singing along in absolutely no time.
“Samson” – Perhaps my ears betray me—but it sounds like the Carole King that played when I was just a tot. Spektor proves she can be awkward and beautiful. This is my favorite song.
“On The Radio” – At about the 2:45 mark there is an unusual adlib—apart from that this is an absolutely brilliant pop song. This is an artist that sounds like she’s having fun.
“Hotel Song” – Regina Spektor takes a song that sounds similar to Doris Troy’s “Just One Look” and makes it every bit as happy-go-lucky with lines like “A little bag of cocaine, a little bag of cocaine / So who’s the girl wearing my dress.” It’s abnormally brilliant.
“Summer In The City” – So gentle and somber. The piano alone sends shivers down your spine and then comes Spektor’s voice which melts your soul.

THE AVERAGE:
“Better” – The song seems quite rudimentary until Spektor hits the bridge where at one moment it all goes wrong back to a happy pop trip.
“20 Years Of Snow” – This is mostly a quirky track that is much different from the straightforward pop songs that open the first six tracks. It is closer to what fans expect from Spektor. “That Time” is exactly the same. It would be no surprise to find out that both songs were written around the same time.

THE BAD:
Absolutely nothing.

FRANKLY: What is there to say about Regina Spektor? Begin To Hope is a huge surprise. So far 2006 might be the year of the women. Arguably the best albums this year and last are from women. Begin To Hope might be the best of them all. There is a little bit for everyone from the eclectic to the pop fan. Personally I find Spektor at her best doing the slow pop songs in combination with the happy-go-lucky pop. I could do without the quirky tracks—and yet even those sound better and better with each listen.

+ Rae Gun