Cat Power - You Are Free (2003)

The first album in four years from Chan Marshall, one of the premier female singer-songwriters of our generation. Her richly complex vocal stylings and minor-key poetics have made her an indie superstar. This album, printed on recycled paper and recorded with renewable resources, explores the world of relationships and fame. Catchy, intense, and beguiling. "Her voice sounds liker her soul laid bare--arresting, beautiful and evocative"--Nylon.

Chan "Cat Power" Marshall's performances have become legendary marathons marked by Marshall's shyness and her ability to create moments of fragmented beauty. Five years on from her last collection of original songs, 1998's Moon Pix, Marshall has reined in the silvery brilliance of her shows. The 14 pieces on You Are Free maintain a spontaneity, but, compared with their digressive live incarnations, they've been given focus--a development that owes something to a notable supporting cast that includes Dave Grohl on drums and Eddie Vedder on vocals. Marshall's impressionistic vision is expressed with a new clarity while retaining its affecting understatement and sense of dislocation. Her past kinship with Bonnie Prince Billy and Smog gives way to PJ Harvey and Nina Simone comparisons. You Are Free confirms that Marshall is one of the most original and compelling singer-songwriters around. --John Mulvey