The decision to check out the new Cat Power album You Are Free was an easy one. Not only had I heard a lot of buzz about it, but I was able to hear one of the tracks, He War, before the album was released in February 2003 on Matador Records and absolutely loved it. Without knowing what to expect beyond this one track, I dove into You Are Free quite blindly.

Cat Power is not a band as I previously thought, it's the stagename for Chan Marshall (Chan is pronounced the same as Shawn). You Are Free is Chan's first album of original songs since 1998 - she released an album of cover songs, aptly titled The Covers Record in 2000. You Are Free will easily be the album that really breaks Cat Power out of the indie scene and into huge exposure. Other than the all around buzz about the album, Chan is joined by a few industry heavyweights on the album - most notably Dave Grohl who provides drums on some tracks (he's everywhere, isn't he?) and Eddie Vedder who offers up some backing vocals here and there. With these two big hitters in her hip pocket, Cat Power is almost destined for the big time.

The music on You Are Free is an interesting mix of rock and jangly indie pop complimented by Chan's uniquely expressive voice and simple, but absorbing lyrics. The album is a sparse mix of instrumentation, most notably Chan's spartan guitar strumming and plunked notes on the piano. You Are Free opens with Don't Blame You, which features only Chan's vocals and piano and comes off as a very understated piece. The next track Free is more upbeat and includes some percussion, although it's hard to tell if it's real or programmed. The way that Chan's vocals are layered over themself adds great depth to the song and this is easily the most “cheery” track on the album. Good Woman almost falls into alt.country territory and features Eddie Vedder's vocals which just sort of float over Chan's voice and aren't really a focal point. It's nice to hear Vedder this subdued and his voice works well with Chan's.

He War is definitely my favorite track on You Are Free, not just because it's the first Cat Power song I heard, but because I love it's piano opener and chunky electric guitar with occassional drum beats. Chan's vocals move expertly from restrained to wailing and accentuate lyrics like, “I'm not that hot new chick and if you won't let me run with it, we're on to your same old trick. Get up and run away with it.” Shaking Paper is another favorite that follows very much in the vein of He War, but with a more atmospheric vibe. Here Chan's voice has an air, haunting quality and more great lyrics like, “I don't know what is worse and I can't tell what is best. People in size, the way of the world. Dealing with despise the sound of shaking paper. Guess what I found. You. Too.”

A few of the track fall a little short, like Werewolf and Keep on Running, to name a few. These are sparse and almost too dislocated to be enjoyable. I find this style hard to listen to, but I do anyway, because sometimes the hardest music to listen to becomes the most rewarding to experience. I imagine others may be more into this aspect of Cat Power, but I prefer the more upbeat, rocking tunes to the molasses slow minimalism of songs like these.

Cat Power is an artist not to miss. You Are Free is poised to be a big break through for Chan and it unargueably shows off some of the best aspects of the female singer/songwriter genre. She is vulnerable and powerful at the same time and each song focuses less on complexity than fine honing of her skills. The result is an extremely personal album that shows off everything that is missing from studio created “musicians” these days. Do yourself a favor and check out You Are Free.

Recommended: Yes