regina spektor FAR

straight from pitchfork. . .
On the quirky scale, Regina Spektor makes Zooey Deschanel look like Jennifer Aniston. Everything about the Russian-born singer-songwriter is a little bit skewed-- her accent, phrasing, pronunciation, hooks. So, after toiling in the downtown NYC scene for the first half of the decade, it was a pleasant surprise when her 2006 album Begin to Hope cracked Billboard's Top 20 on the strength of bittersweet pop bites like "Fidelity" and "Better". Based on an advance listen to some of the tracks from her follow-up, Far (due in June via Sire), we can happily report that success hasn't spoiled Spektor's oddball charisma.

For Far, the singer enlisted a quartet of hit-making producers: Begin to Hope's David Kahne, Mike Elizondo (Fiona Apple, Maroon 5), Garret "Jacknife" Lee (U2, R.E.M.), and-- most surprisingly-- ELO frontman/Paul McCartney and George Harrison collaborator/Traveling Wilburys member/overall rock'n'roll institution Jeff Lynne.

Though her production collaborators come from a wide range of backgrounds, it's tough to mistake Spektor for anyone else. Among the songs that may be included on the record (the tracklist has yet to be set), there are dark narratives ("Genius Next Door"), sprightly sure-to-be hits ("The Calculation"), and some trademark goofiness ("Folding Chair", which features Spektor doing an uncanny dolphin imitation). As she gets ready to work on the final mixes for Far, Spektor took some time out to talk to us about her creative process, working with Jeff Lynne, and her sci-fi prediction for the year 2309.

{pitchfork} {wikipedia.org}