Regina Spektor: Far

As many of you know, I have an absolutely brutal accounting final tomorrow night. This post proves that I lack discipline. But I found a way to preview Regina Spektor's upcoming LP Far and I couldn't be more excited. What can I say? There's no accounting for talent. :) 

My biggest knock against Regina is that in the past, her creativity has gotten in the way of her songwriting. At her best, Regina delivers creative wordplay backed by bubbly and ridiculously catchy piano riffs. At her worst, she sounds like a distracted four year old repeating the same word until someone notices her. 

The four year old has matured. This album (at least the seven songs I heard) delivers some of the most polished of all her offerings. But they don't lose approachable but complex, light feeling harmonies that she's perfected. So far, Machine and One More Time With Feeling are my current favorites. 

My one complaint. Aside from Laughing With, this album seems chock full of cute-sy songs. Is it cruel for me to hope that Regina gets left by her lover sometime in the coming year so that she directs her ridiculously creative self down some darker streets? She'd write the most beautiful breakup album since Fiona.