In 2006 when I heard Fidelity (see video below) by Regina Spektor, I could not get that song out of my head and proceeded to get the album Begin to Hope of which Fidelity was the debut single. The album is simply put: pure genius. Her mastery of the piano and her penchant for storytelling is enough to engage, however the thing that makes the album so good is that it is so… Regina. Her quirkiness, sweetness and all out wacky vocal expressions truly make her unique and her art all the more fascinating.
You might be wondering why I’m writing about an album from 2006. Frankly, it’s just that good. Listening to the album this past week, with “fresh ears” I have found some new favourites which as it turns out are the quirkier songs on the album; songs like Field Below, Apres Moi and That time.
In listening to her other albums I have to admit, sometimes the songs just seem to go over my head. Her songs have an element of depth to them which artists today truly lack. Not because they are complicated but her songs and storytelling sometimes pulls from different places, time periods and has so many references that you have to immerse yourself to really “get it”.
While reintroducing myself to her music this week I found two songs off her 2009 album Far that I can’t stop playing – Laughing with and Human of the Year. Honestly, I can’t even tell you the other songs on the album. It was like these two just reached out and grabbed me. Many people have their different interpretations of these songs. Laughing with seemed pretty straight forward to me but after reading an explanation of Human of the Year – I looked past the haunting quality and awesome vocals to really listen to the song and it all just made sense. See if you can figure it out and let me know.
So there you go…Regina Spektor. If you hadn’t heard of her before now, you’re welcome. Enjoy the eargasms below.
From Begin to Hope
From Far
