Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
We are drawn to those who see the world as a place to explore, not to abuse, the people who seek ways in which to go from city to town and onto the path of their own choosing, never hampered by the dusty trails, the long road, or the final destination. We take pleasure in the stories of the ones willing to break out from the confines of life because secretly, no matter how much we enjoy our creature comforts of home, the knowledge of security, we are jealous of those who have the ability to become the Wanderer, the carefree or even mysterious soul.
It feels like forever and a day since Cat Power was last seen spotted soaking up the remains of the Sun, six years since one of the most intriguing artists of the 21st Century was piling on the pressure of the conventional and orthodox, those who would only step out of the tight reigns of their life if it meant a pay cheque at the end of a tour. Yet, for half a decade it seems as if the tables may have turned, the perceived back-lash against her own soul to much to bare; in the Wanderer such notions are dispelled, the artist stepping forward from behind intemperate clouds of possible disillusion, the rambling voice of others whispering in her ears told to leave, the rolling stone and nomadic hero returning with honour.
Cat Power has always been regarded as unconventional by some, it is arguably more accurate to consider her as the spirit wolf that watches over the way we live our lives, mired in want and the absence of something more natural, she rages and howls, and for a time perhaps we as listener’s didn’t heed that howl in the broad daylight with any particular regard, much to our own unhappy state now.
It is in the desire of the mysterious wolf that sits ahead of the game that Wanderer becomes an enticing prospect of beauty, the fragility, and the inner rage, and in songs as rich and seemingly prophetic as Woman, Robin Hood, Nothing Really Matters, Me Voy and In Your Face, Cat Power unleashes the pent up and the put aside with dramatic texture of thought.
A return of power, the curious and the dedication of a woman who embodies the spirit of the traveller, the Wanderer returns to tell all of all she has seen.
Ian D. Hall