The damn iPod connection thingy in my car is broken, so I’ve been forced to revert to playing CDs when I’m driving. Old school! A last minute rummage through the CD drawer on my way out to the This Is Tigerr festival the other day yielded an old favourite of mine, Cat Power’s The Covers Record. Driving home after the gig I had a major nostalgia trip as I rediscovered how much I LOVED this album.

Released in 2000, the same year as her other acclaimed album of dusky soul, The Greatest, I played this album endlessly  when I bought it. I’d deferred my PhD to have a baby, moved to a new, seaside suburb from the grungy (but wonderful) inner city, and was bit of a mess trying to sort it all out. I would put this on the CD player and rock my babe to sleep while I looked out at the ocean. Chan Marshall’s voice had just the right amount of tender and fragile to soothe both of us. Her version of Jerry Miller’s ‘Naked If I Want To’ was my favourite:

Cat Power’s latest album Sun is out now on Matador Records. 

Cat Power plays at Volkshaus, ZH, 06.12.12, as part of the Kilbi im Überall festival. Tix here. 

Related articles

• Cat Power, ‘Sun’ (Matador) (spin.com)
• Reinvention and Rejuvenation: Cat Power’s Sun (leftoffthetracks.com)
• The New Adventures of Cat Power (rollingstone.com)