Seventeen years after Chan Marshall’s debut as Cat Power comes Sun, her ninth studio album. It’s been six years since the release of The Greatest, her ode to her Southern roots that was recorded in Memphis. However, Sun does not find Cat Power looking in the same direction. Instead the singer and songwriter, who has gone through the trials and tribulations of adulthood, seems to be coming full circle and confronting the Cat Power of earlier releases. She’s lived a life frought with stage fright, substance abuse, break-ups, and creative demons, and appears ready to break free of it all. Sun is the first Cat Power record to put synthesizers and drum programming up front and let the guitars take a rest. It’s an album that exists outside of the current musical trends and still manages to be all Marshall’s own.

• includes free mp3 download
• Music Label: Matador 2012

reviewed by Michu Meszaros 09/2012