Regina Spektor - Home Before and After
by Zena Grieg
published: 8 / 9 / 2022
Label:
Warner Bros
Format: CD
intro
Playful, unpredictable and sometimes heart-wrenching first album in six years from Moscow-born, but New York-based singer-songwriter Regina Spektor
Moscow-born, New York residing singer-songwriter Regina Spektor has released her eighth album, the first in six years. Co-produced with John Congleton, ‘Home, Before And After’ is less quirky than her previous records. Themes range from love and loss to a critique of power and misogyny, underlain by a reflective meditativeness in some songs, complemented by a mix of genres from ballads through a sprinkling of hip-hop to pop. Highlights of this ten-track collection include: the powerful, string-laden, drumbeat-driven lead single ‘Becoming All Alone’, an emotive track about loneliness counterpointed wittily by a chance encounter with God who takes her out for a beer: “And we didn’t even have to pay/’Cause God is God/and he’s revered”; the vibrant funk and uneasy urgency of ‘Up The Mountain’ seeking existential answers in the natural world; ‘Raindrops’ a delicate piano-led declaration of longing; the mesmerizing ‘SugarMan’ with its caustic lines: “I’m not your doll, I’m not your pet/But I’m not my own ever since we met”; the jazzy, nine-minute ‘Spacetime Fairytale’ musing about time, life and meaning:”Pages burn, but words return/Just watch the flames and you will learn”; the inventive and poetic ballad ‘Coin’ with its theatrical sound, about the contrasting outcomes of giving cash to a shaman, a scientist, a president and a baby who “swallowed it whole” and finally to a lover: “You smiled and said, “Oh, you shouldn’t have/But your eyes spoke louder than your mouth/Your eyes said thank you, your eyes said love”; and the closer the whimsical, satirical ‘Loveology’ with Spektor in the guise of a schoolteacher dealing in ‘ologies’, the plaintive final line resonating: “Forgive me-ology”. “I tend to live in a world of miniatures, so even my biggest work feels like a blink to me” Spektor said in an interview. Playful, unpredictable and sometimes heart-wrenching, ‘Home, Before And After’ is an experimental odyssey of musical moments, a shifting and impacting kaleidoscope of sound and emotion..
Track Listing:-
1 Becoming All Alone2 Up the Mountain
3 One Man's Prayer
4 Raindrops
5 Sugarman
6 What Might Have Been
7 Spacetime Fairytale
8 Coin
9 Loveology
10 Through a Door
Band Links:-
https://reginaspektor.com/https://www.facebook.com/reginaspektor
https://twitter.com/respektor
Label Links:-
http://www.warnerbrosrecords.co.uk/https://www.facebook.com/warnerbrosrecordsuk/
Play in YouTube:-
Have a Listen:-
live reviews |
Chicago Theater, Chicago, 9/10/2022 |
Lisa Torem enjoys Regina Spektor’s engaging performance at the Chicago Theater in support of the singer-songwriter-pianist’s latest album, ‘Home, Before and After.’ |
Carling Academy, Birmingham, 5/9/2007 |
soundcloud
most viewed articles
current edition
The Church - Interview with Steve KilbeySimon Heavisides - Destiny Stopped Screaming: The Life and Times of Adrian Borland
In Dreams Begin Responsibilities - #15- On Being Dignified and Old aka Ten Tips From Jah Wobble On How To Be Happy.
Repomen - Ten Songs That Made Me Love...
Vetchinsky Settings - Interview
Jack Roscoe - Interview
Near Jazz Experience - Interview
Liam Gallagher and John Squire - Olympia Theatre, Dublin, 16/3/2024
Sami Sumner - Interview
Nico - Profile
most viewed reviews
current edition
Lewis 'Burner' Pugh - Bullets for BreadKula Shaker - Natural Magick
Ian Hunter - Defiance Part 2: Fiction
Smalltown Tigers - Crush On You
David Cross Band - Ice Blue Silver Sky
Beyonce - Cowboy Carter
Hillbilly Moon Explosion - Back in Time
Ty Segall - Three Bells
My Life Story - Loving You is Killing Me
Frank Carter and the Rattlesnakes - Dark Rainbow
Pennyblackmusic Regular Contributors
Adrian Janes
Amanda J. Window
Andrew Twambley
Anthony Dhanendran
Benjamin Howarth
Cila Warncke
Daniel Cressey
Darren Aston
Dastardly
Dave Goodwin
Denzil Watson
Dominic B. Simpson
Eoghan Lyng
Fiona Hutchings
Harry Sherriff
Helen Tipping
Jamie Rowland
John Clarkson
Julie Cruickshank
Kimberly Bright
Lisa Torem
Maarten Schiethart