This came out in 2003 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
If you’re as good as the company you keep, Cat Power — aka Chan Marshall — couldn’t be better.
On her latest CD You Are Free, a certain grunge singer identified only as EV (you might know him from his band PJ) and a famous drummer called DG (who used to be in N and now plays guitar in his own FF) both show up to lend this New York singer-songwriter a well-placed and much-deserved hand or harmony. But if you think a little A-list support is enough to turn Marshall’s frown upside down, you don’t know jack. Or Chan. A notoriously uncomfortable artist — I once saw her perform a whole set to her feet — Marshall translates her angst to the studio and uses it to create musically simple, emotionally complex and genuinely compelling art on You Are Free, her first album of new material in five years. Typically relying only on a stark backdrop of guitar or piano, Marshall hesitantly voices a slate of confessional, hauntingly gorgeous ballads, interspersed with a few endearingly lo-fi pop-rockers. With her fragile state and unvarnished style, you could liken her to Tanya Donnelly crossed with early Liz Phair. But really, Marshall has a personality all her own. And once you get past her acute shyness, You Are Free should help her make plenty of new friends.
