PHOO CREDIT: Eliot Lee Hazel
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED BY BEAT MAGAZINE, OCTOBER 2018
Over the years, Marshall’s songwriting skill and musical identity has both strengthened and diversified with time and experience. Currently preparing for the release of her new album, Marshall — and fans — anticipate the tenth Cat Power studio record: Wanderer.
The singles that fans have been delivered so far (‘Wanderer’, ‘Woman’, ‘Stay’) have been strong in their presentation, yet Wanderer shines as a whole for its great sonic contrasts, as well as Marshall’s defiance; in both her writing and vocal performance. Where other Cat Power albums are known for a somewhat cathartic channelling of pain, Wanderer is built on ideas of hope and possibility, taking a road less travelled in search of redemption, or emotional enlightenment.
“I think it serves a purpose,” Marshall says of Wanderer. “There are some things I needed to release. Songs are like a mystery inside my mind, you know? There were some things I needed to release to help me as a human, as a woman.”
Wanderer is the result of some years’ work of writing and recording between Miami and Los Angeles. Marshall notes the impact her son had on her work as a musician, and how integral he was to the formation of this record.
“Having my child, or maybe having his soul in my body, carrying around someone’s soul in your body may link you with some sort of divine synergy,” she ponders. “I am much more grounded and extremely self-protective and protective over my life. My intention while recording this album was one of complete protection and security of personal space; protection of the intention of goodness.”
Bringing Rob Schnapf into the fold to help produce Wanderer allowed Marshall to relinquish some of the already heavy workload she had taken upon herself, and also allowed for a strong, new dynamic to thrive.
“If I hadn’t left Miami, my comfort zone, and gone to mix somewhere else, I probably wouldn’t have recorded the song ‘Wanderer’, because it was so personal,” she remembers.
“It was more of a meditation. I wouldn’t have recorded ‘Stay’; that whole recording was just a soundcheck, basically. He had been recording and I didn’t know.”
“My ex-label was calling him and asking if there were hits and he kept that information from me. He didn’t tell me, and I didn’t find out until recently. He upheld his integrity as an artist too. Working with him, it was like being in his house. It was so comfortable.”
The importance of finding beauty in nuance was crucial for Marshall on Wanderer and in Schnapf, she found a comrade.
“He did a lot of work with Elliott Smith, who was a friend of mine,” she explains. “He understands the elegance of simplicity, you know? That’s really important.
“It was similar with Lana,” Marshall adds, reflecting on her relationship with Lana Del Rey, who features on ‘Woman’. “When she asked me to go on tour with her, there was an understanding of, ‘Hey, we’re a team’. That’s what we’re meant to do. We’re meant to relate. If you see an old man who’s just broken down on the bus corner crying, we’re meant to put our hand on his shoulder and ask him if he’s okay or if he needs help, you know?”
Speaking openly about how this process differed from creating Sun six years ago, Marshall vividly recalls the external pressures put on her to deliver a career-defining album.
“For this record, I had the pressure on me again,” she admits. “I knew there was pressure to do a hit record. When they asked for it and when they returned it and said it was no good, that I needed to change it – I worked very specifically on this record. I had clearly visualised my path of recording this record right after my little boy was born.”
“Sun was so overpowering. It was so dominating. I worked so hard to make sure that I created and formed sound and words with integrity. It’s so hard, because the idea of a ‘hit record’ just doesn’t make sense to me. Fame and wanting to be famous, I’m not comfortable with how absurd and how pointless that is.”
Within the bounds of previous Cat Power releases, there is a gorgeous, albeit haunting, quality; the mark of a songwriter that flits cleverly between elegant warmth and painful vulnerability. Wanderer holds this quintessential Cat Power quality dear, while also navigating a more mature creative landscape that has only formed itself from time spent slowing down, and appreciating each of life’s experiences; both good and bad. Many would argue that music is a remedy, and for Marshall, it has always been a crucial medicine.
“There are things we all need to get free from and music helps,” she says. “I didn’t talk to people when I was younger. I didn’t talk to journalists, no one wanted to interview me about my songs. Over these years, I’d meet people who would say, ‘this song helped me’. That (music) also saved my life a long time ago.”