Bubbling Under the Top 75: Cat Power – ‘Sun’

Artist: Cat Power

Album: Sun

Label: Matador

Image: http://images.popmatters.com/music_cover_art/c/catpower.jpg

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Cat Power
Sun

The electronics on Sun would seem to separate it from the rest of Cat Power’s oeuvre, but the synth and drum kit just highlight the mysteries that have always surrounded her lyrics, which feel like the torn-off pages of a diary you find on the street. The album starts with an ethereal cry for help on “Cherokee” and ends channelling Spirit Animal Iggy Pop on the massive “Nothin But Time” and promising that “I’m a lover, but I’m in it to win”, among other things. There’s a focus on Sun, all drums, pianos, everything feels like they’re driving towards the same place, one of confidence and a dogged belief that hard work, corny as it may sound, pays off: “You ain’t got nothing on time, and time ain’t got nothing on you.” And given the fact that Chan Marshall has bankrupt herself making Sun, there’s not a better statement in support of artistic creativity you could make then picking this up. Just buy it, goddamn it. — David Grossman