Waking Ear

Cat Power/"Fool" -- I love an album like this, when a different song jumps out at me upon every listen. This morning it was "Fool," with its old-world violin careening through Chan Marshall's layered vocals. Marshall overdubs herself all over this record, creating harmonies with her own voice that make You Are Free sound ghostly in some places and fresh and sharp in others.

The middle portion of the record, featuring "Fool," "He War" and the riveting "Smashing Paper," is the strongest, giving us full bursts of the fight Marshall has in her. The trio of songs is so dramatically different from what we've heard before from Cat Power -- so aggressive, upbeat and catchy -- that it's disappointing to go back to the morose lullabies that occupy the last six tracks of the album. These latter tracks get better with age, too, but it's evident that Marshall has raised the bar for herself and should aim higher. I want more of the snarls and growls of "He War." I want more of Marshall battling and succumbing to that big, scary drumbeat in "Smashing Paper."

The next record -- don't make us wait three more years, Chan -- could be spectacular. And that makes the disappointments on You Are Free much more forgivable. This is an "artist in transition" record, and I'd much rather have that than an "artist running in place" record.