The sophomore album "Begin To Hope" by Regina Spektor, a young artist from Moscow, is one of those albums that require a few listens in order to be appreciated.
The first track "Fidelity" is a wonderfully intoxicating pop number that allows Spektor to showcase her incredible vocal talents by jumping from one note to the next, keeping her tone light and crisp.
There are also less bouncy, more sentimental tracks like "Samson," a song that explores the Bible story by referencing the relationship between Delilah and a longhaired figure, even adding a new twist by exonerating Delilah.
"I cut his hair myself one night/and he told me that I'd done alright and kissed me 'til the morning light," Spektor sings.
The song is beautiful and stark in its arrangement. The only accompaniment comes from Spektor's piano and some strings. Her voice occasionally shrinks to a whisper that adds even more pathos to the song's already dismal tone.
"On the Radio" is a track that some might recognize from just that, radio play. It's a return to the pop format, as equally charming as "Fidelity" but a bit livelier.
Some of the lyrics sound like nonsense even after a few listens, but that is part of Spektor's appeal. She doesn't write songs that make perfect sense to anyone except seemingly herself.
In "Hotel Song," she talks about "dreams of orca whales," while in the track "That Time," she mentions a "month when I only ate boxes of tangerines."
Her prodigious musical talents, especially on the piano, evident mostly in "Apres Moi," are stunning and have roused the acclaim of such notable artists as Nick Valenci of The Strokes.
The album is deeply connected to Spektor's experience and the listener has to enter her world to appreciate it. While this is admittedly difficult, once the mind becomes drenched in the lyrics it yields a brilliant product.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
