Far

It's been three years since Regina's last album, "Begin to Hope", was released, and her new album has finally arrived...

The album's lead single "Laughing With" was, I think, an excellent choice for first single. It's delicate, soft and very pretty. "Eet" also shows that same side of Miss Spektor.

"Machine" sounds like what I imagine Regina would have made if she had a top-notch producer at the time of recording her 2002 album "Songs". "Genius Next Door" and "Man of a thousand faces" are other songs that have a darker sound than the others.

"Blue Lips" is a bit different. It's a ballad with an epic, sweeping sound thanks to the very good production by Jeff Lynne (who has produced for artists such as The Beatles and Roy Orbison).

"Human of the Year" is a very nice track with a "church-gospelly" kind of sound that works nicely for Regina's voice and piano. Go to 2:17 in the track to hear how beautiful Regina's voice can really sound (it actually gave me goosebumps).

Fans of Regina's quirky, upbeat songs can't be dissappointed with this album. "The Calculation", "Folding Chair", and "Dance Anthem of the 80's" are possibly Regina's most catchy and fun songs to date. "The Calculation" is very radio friendly to be honest but Regina's piano and beautiful vocal styling and quirky lyrics just make it impossible not to like. "Folding Chair" is really fun and sweet; a very feel-good song that brings a smile to my face each time I hear it. "Dance Anthem of the 80's" starts out with familiar Regina territory, but the song develops and has a circusey, slightly eerie, sound with beatboxing to add more effect to it; a nice surprise...

Fans of Regina's early work might be worried that this album might be too overproduced and radio-friendly with the new producers; Jeff Lynne (The Beatles, Roy Orbison), Garret "Jacknife" Lee (R.E.M., U2, Snow Patrol, Bloc Party, The Hives, Weezer), Mike Elizondo (Dr. Dre, Eminem, Fiona Apple). Yes, the album has a lot of extra production but it compliments Regina's personality perfectly and really adds to the songs. Regina's piano and vocals are up in the forefront where they should be.

The special edition of the album comes with a DVD of four music videos and two extra tracks "Time is all around" and "The Sword & The Pen" so I'd suggest paying a few more pounds to get it instead of the standard edition.

Regina has definitely matured over the last three years. Her voice is clearer, prettier, and she really SINGS her heart out on this album. Overall, I'd say this is a beautiful, emotional album that should please Regina Spektor fans. I'd be surprised if it didn't.

I'm really hoping her label promote her well; she deserves more attention than she gets.

It's been three years since Regina's last album, "Begin to Hope", was released, and her new album has finally arrived...

The album's lead single "Laughing With" was, I think, an excellent choice for first single. It's delicate, soft and very pretty. "Eet" also shows that same side of Miss Spektor.

"Machine" sounds like what I imagine Regina would have made if she had a top-notch producer at the time of recording her 2002 album "Songs". "Genius Next Door" and "Man of a thousand faces" are other songs that have a darker sound than the others.

"Blue Lips" is a bit different. It's a ballad with an epic, sweeping sound thanks to the very good production by Jeff Lynne (who has produced for artists such as The Beatles and Roy Orbison).

"Human of the Year" is a very nice track with a "church-gospelly" kind of sound that works nicely for Regina's voice and piano. Go to 2:17 in the track to hear how beautiful Regina's voice can really sound (it actually gave me goosebumps).

Fans of Regina's quirky, upbeat songs can't be dissappointed with this album. "The Calculation", "Folding Chair", and "Dance Anthem of the 80's" are possibly Regina's most catchy and fun songs to date. "The Calculation" is very radio friendly to be honest but Regina's piano and beautiful vocal styling and quirky lyrics just make it impossible not to like. "Folding Chair" is really fun and sweet; a very feel-good song that brings a smile to my face each time I hear it. "Dance Anthem of the 80's" starts out with familiar Regina territory, but the song develops and has a circusey, slightly eerie, sound with beatboxing to add more effect to it; a nice surprise...

Fans of Regina's early work might be worried that this album might be too overproduced and radio-friendly with the new producers; Jeff Lynne (The Beatles, Roy Orbison), Garret "Jacknife" Lee (R.E.M., U2, Snow Patrol, Bloc Party, The Hives, Weezer), Mike Elizondo (Dr. Dre, Eminem, Fiona Apple). Yes, the album has a lot of extra production but it compliments Regina's personality perfectly and really adds to the songs. Regina's piano and vocals are up in the forefront where they should be.

The special edition of the album comes with a DVD of four music videos and two extra tracks "Time is all around" and "The Sword & The Pen" so I'd suggest paying a few more pounds to get it instead of the standard edition.
Regina has definitely matured over the last three years. Her voice is clearer, prettier, and she really SINGS her heart out on this album. Overall, I'd say this is a beautiful, emotional album that should please Regina Spektor fans. I'd be surprised if it didn't.

I'm really hoping her label promote her well; she deserves more attention than she gets.

I love this album. OK, I admit it, that isn't the most impartial way to start off a review, but it's the truth. I love everything about it, the interesting, witty lyrics, Regina's gorgeous vocals, the superb songwriting, the way some of the compositions have a powerful emotive message and yet still have the ability to make a smile involuntarily creep across your face. Such is the appeal of "Far", I have literally lost count of the amount of times I have played this album since I've bought it, so not only does this album have an immediate impact on the listener, it has real longevity.

There are so many brilliant songs on this collection, I could quite easily go through each track and would probably run out of superlatives, so I'll just stick to my absolute favourites. The bouncy opener, "The Calculation" is infectious and charming. "Eet" is both delicate and then magnificent, reminding me a little of Ben Folds, as does the excellent "Two Birds". The sinister, near-Orwelian, "Machine" is another stand-out, managing to be both chilling and yet undeniably beautiful. I'm reminded of Alanis Morissette at her most poignant best when I hear "Laughing With", a song wryly commenting about the perversion and misuse of religion whilst managing to stay cleverly neutral. "Dance Anthem Of The 80's" is almost annoyingly catchy but most certainly amusing. "Wallet" is a beautiful song, describing the brief insight into someone's life finding their wallet would give you. In fact, every single track on "Far" has something special to offer to the listener.

It's a testament to the album's four producers that you can't tell that the songs have different people behind the helm - it's a very cohesive album and they all simply seem to bring the best out of Ms. Spektor. Even the great but often-criticised Jeff Lynne, who isn't renowned for his production subtlety, tailors his sound and the instrumentation to enrich and enhance the performance rather than to leave any trademark stamp on it. In fact, even the keenest ears would have trouble picking out which producer was behind which track. That, I believe, is a huge compliment to all involved in this record. What's more, I've managed to get to the end of a review about a Regina Spektor album without using the word "quirky". Until now. Damn.

A wonderful, wonderful album.