Regina Spektor worked with no less than four big-name producers on Far, all of them with very unheard-of backgrounds: David Kahne was her collaborator on 2006's Begin to Hope; Garret "Jacknife" Lee counts R.E.M. and U2 centre of his credits; Jeff Lynne's abundant conservative is legendary on ELO's albums; and Mike Elizondo has worked with Fiona Apple and Maroon 5.
It's something of a surprise, then, that Far sounds so homogenized. On Soviet Kitsch and Begin to Hope, Spektor's wide-eyed moments were balanced with darker, wily songs that kept her music grounded. Here, almost all of the approximate or unpredictable edges have been smoothed away, and all that's larboard is Spektor's sweet, quirky side. At times, Far gets secluded to being unbearably precious, whether it's putting Spektor's label in all lowercase letters in the liner notes, her dolphin on the otherwise charming "Folding Chair," or lyrics adore "We made our own computer out of macaroni pieces" on the chirpy opener, "The Calculation.
" Even the album's darker tracks, such as the percussion-heavy "Machine," are surprisingly sugary compared to her above-mentioned work. However, Spektor's guileless present and articulation let her to get away with sounds and ideas that would be horribly cloying in the hands of almost any other artist. She manages to cover a air with the chorus "Eet, eet, eet" catchy and affecting, and fashions an perceptive and facetious account out of returning a pocketbook to Blockbuster Video.
Still, Far's best moments manifest itself when Spektor turns down the whimsy a few notches. It's presumably not a fortuitousness that the Kahne-produced "Human of the Year" shares some of Begin to Hope's intimacy and ambition, but "Blue Lips" and "Man of a Thousand Faces" also let Spektor's more fully grown -- but not damned thoughtful -- arrogance shine. Likewise, "Two Birds" and "One More Time with Feeling" show that she hasn't ruined her jot for deceptively extremely report with cunning lyrics. While Far is far from bad, it doesn't definitely living up to expectations, either, based on all the flair tortuous in making it and how fully Spektor expressed herself on Begin to Hope. Heather Phares, All Music Guide.
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