Regina Spektor is a distinctively New York City kind of artist, and like fellow NYC documentors Dorothy Parker or O. Henry she takes her tales of the Big Apple and refracts them through an emotional light to make the tales of lost Blockbuster cards and cathedrals giving out "Human Of The Year" seem universal.
While four producers tackled Regina's wordy piano pop songs, Far remains a cohesive story of a slightly off-kilter young lady who thinks blue is the most human color and is laughing with God. And Regina does bring the off-kilter full force, starting "Folding Chair" with a ragtime piano before taking it into light ska and adding dolphin noises. Yet, there is a beauty and a grace to what could be a mess of quirkiness. A story unfolds on "Genius Next Year" over a rolling classical piano and angelic synths - a story of drunken teens and secretive busboys taking dips in thick water. The plot may not make sense, but the emotion is almost heartbreaking. "Eet" also proves that Regina's quirky vocal tics make perfect sense and the melody is lovely enough to carry the esoteric lyrics to hymn-like status.
Compared to Spektor's previous major label discs, Far doesn't have a "Samson" like her last effort did, but it does marry the more experimental side of Soviet Kitsch with Begin To Hope's poppier polish. And songs like "Machine" are the kind of thing only Regina could record, making Far a distinctively Regina Spektor kind of album.
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