It took far too long for me to get on the Regina Spektor bandwagon. There was nothing really keeping me from hopping on, I just never listened to Begin To Hope when it came out in June (or even pre-release when every blogger and their brother was talking about how great she was). Most people know that chick singers aren't always my thing, although there are many exceptions to that rule. But for every album I have with female vocals, there have to be at least 15 where the singers are all male.
With "Fidelity" springing up on every TV show though, I knew it wouldn't be long before I was a fan. The song is impossibly, almost excruciatingly catchy - so catchy, in fact, that now that I've been listening to Begin To Hope pretty frequently, I'm afraid I'm going to get sick of it. The song has been stuck in my head almost every morning this week, as soon as I wake up. The rest of the record is just as great, and although not every track is as bouncy-perky-pert as "Fidelity" - "On the Radio" and "Hotel Song" come pretty damn close. There are a lot of slower, piano-based songs (obviously Spektor is incredibly talented on the instrument) and while that stuff is usually in danger of being a snoozefest, she definitely keeps my attention throughout the entire album. The word that comes to mind with this one is interesting, and although that's usually a euphemism for sucky ("well, it's not my scene but it's interesting"), in this case it's a huge, huge compliment. There is something different, daring, challenging, unpredictable and well... interesting about this record. And I love it.
I'm really looking forward to seeing Spektor next Wednesday here in Nashville - she's playing at Exit/In (details on the right). I highly suggest you check the show out if you like what you've heard here. Or at least go watch the video for "Fidelity" - it's as cute as the song is.
