Album: Regina Spektor ‘Far’

New York-via-Moscow singer/songwriter Regina Spektor has just released her interminably cute new album, ‘Far’. Spektor’s signature schtick has always been otherworldly piano-ridden pop – a concoction that coagulates with bubbly intonations, clever turns of phrases, and charming punch lines. On ‘Far’, the eccentric pop starlet amplifies her appeal with a veritable pantheon of musical genius including Garret ‘Jacknife’ Lee (U2 and REM) and Mike Elizondo (Fiona Apple, Maroon 5) lending their prolific technical mastery to a venturesome track-list. The results are shadowy voyeuristic narratives (‘Genius Next Door’), sweet-as-pie pop ‘The Wallet’ (an ode to Blockbuster Video, believe it or not), and sheer kook ‘Folding Chair’ (during which the singer imitates a dolphin). Rife with vocal experimentation and musical cadence, ‘Far’ forays into a world of quirky, sugared melodic creation that strays further from the predictable realm of pop folk to something curiously intangible.

‘Far’ is out through Warner.