Cat Power

‘The Greatest’ anointed Cat Power with the reverence she’s been building during a 10-year career of unrivalled proliferation. However, long before this, she released her first covers record in 2000. Called (yeah!) ‘The Covers Record’, it saw her give her airy treatment to songs by the gruff likes of The Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan. And, back then, it felt dangerous. Fittingly for a woman who’s just been named the new face of Chanel, the choices on the follow-up ‘Jukebox’ are roundly more feminine. The key tracks here are Joni Mitchell’s ‘Blue’, Billie Holiday’s ‘Don’t Explain’ and a gender-realigned take on Hank Williams’ dusty old ‘Rambling Man’. Factor in a reworked ‘Metal Heart’ from her own 1998 album ‘Moon Pix’, along with a new Dylan tribute, ‘Song For Bobby’, and you’ve got a rich, pretty, but not especially varied 45 minutes. Good, but not ‘The Greatest’.

Dan Martin