Chan Marshall has been making records since the mid-1990s, and in 2012 sounds more hi-fi, electronicly textured, and suitable for mainstream radio then ever before. Speaking of mainstream, her latest album Sun debuted at No. 10 on the Billboard charts in September. Sun marked the ninth album for Cat Power and received much praise for its bold change of direction. Swoon and moody sadness have washed away with Sun, which results in an album that opens up and embraces all the other feelings that life grants. Like growing out of angst and falling in love/smoking pot for the first time, the negativity is replaced with empty mellowness. Cat Power has expanded and grown with this last album which deserves respect, and more importantly created interesting music.
Drops of delay open “Cherokee” before Chan’s grainy vocals radiate warmth. There are many different instruments here, each only doing short parts. Bending chill-wave synth with brief guitar wildly making noise over it. There is a short piano bit in the opening of the song and in a few other moments. This track does not bore us with a small handful of repeated riffs like most indie pop music, which is daring and keeps one listening until the end.
Cat Power has unfortunately postponed touring for the rest of the year due to angioedema, but on the bright side that buys fans plenty of time to dig deeply into Sun. With more soul than perhaps any other chill wave indie-pop of its kind, Cat Power has tried something new and created her richest songs yet.