https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wigqKfLWjvM
(A classic from Regina)
The album starts off with “Bleeding Heart”, which to be honest really doesn’t do much for me. It was one of the earliest tracks I heard from the album. and hearing it the first time lowered my expectations for this overall hugely. Instrumentally, it’s not at all what I would have expected from Regina, you would have thought by now she's learned that her more synth driven stuff isn’t very well received. As far as her vocals go, they haven't aged a day, Regina still sounds like herself even though it’s been quite a while since we’ve heard from her. “Bleeding Heart” is cute and all, but the chorus is just so underwhelming. I think the main issue I have with this one is just how simple it is. Regina has made a career out of taking simple songs and song topics and making them memorable. “Bleeding Heart” isn’t all bland though, the verses are actually really solid, and reminiscent of Regina’s “Begin to Hope” days. It’s not a bad track, I just expect so much more of a punch. We haven’t heard from Regina in four years at this point, I expected a little more solid of an intro. That being said though, the last minute and a half or so really picks up and adds a little extra oomph to “Bleeding Heart”, and even when it slows back down again it’s more interesting than the first few minutes. It’s not terrible. But then, Regina picks herself up and goes right into “Older and Taller”, which immediately is exactly what I wanted to hear from her. The lyrics here are on the quirkier side to say the very least, but it’s what we’ve come to expect from Regina by this point and it’s what usually makes us fall in love with her music. As exciting as it is to occasionally hear Regina on a more upbeat track, her biggest strengths always seem to come out in these piano pop anthems. The strings that pop in occasionally behind Regina are absolutely stunning. Overall, “Older and Taller” might be the closest thing to a perfect Regina Spektor song. It’s constantly sweet and charming, and her vocals constantly shifting up and down the octaves is absolutely adorable. Lyrically, I feel like Regina more times than not is on point, as here she repeats the lyrics “Enjoy your youth, sounds like a threat”. Not only is it the best Regina Spektor song I’ve heard in years, it’s one of the better pop songs I’ve heard this year. Then, as far as tone goes, Regina takes a huge nose dive with “Grand Hotel”. As soon as the track stars she begins depicting this scene of a Grand Hotel with a portal to hell underneath, damn Regina. But she takes that one small thought, and turns it into this incredible portrait of this scenario, something she's always been so amazing at. Lyrically, this is absolutely bizarre and 100% not what I was expecting, but it’s awesome. It’s obviously a little dark in parts, but it’s also beautiful and totally Regina, even when she breaks intro phrases about the Devil and all. The verses here are constantly winding up, building up the sweet release of this huge chorus, the way verses and chorus’s should work. Not to mention, some of these vocals from Regina are absolutely stunning, I couldn't have asked for more from “Grand Hotel”. Then, if that wasn’t a sharp left turn, up next is “Small Bill$”, which starts off with a heavy heavy funk. I’m definitely down for the groove on this one, but I’ve seen Regina try this before and have it come off flat. Regina here is almost doing sort of a rap, which COULD have been just as cringey as it sounds. However, “Small Bill$” holds up excellently. If you’ve heard Regina’s early, fiery jazz performances, this seriously isn’t that far away. To me, this comes off as almost Lana Del Rey’s more hip hop tracks, you know, if anyone could take her seriously besides me (Don’t judge, I am a fan). Regina’s lyrics continue to hold up wonderfully, with this one having much more of a bite to it. “Small Bill$” ends up breaking the album up very nicely. It’s just about the last thing I expected from Regina, but it worked wonderfully. The groove even ends up holding up for most of the track. A huge gamble indeed Regina, but it seriously paid off.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jZfdTB6hug
“Black And White” continues to be just as smooth as you would expect by this point. Regina’s vocals on this one have such an incredible sense of longing to them, it’s almost hurting me just to listen. And when the synths slowly come in usher in the chorus here, it’s a really magical moment. Once again this is seemingly simple track, but Regina’s wonderful lyrics turn this into a stunning work. Not to mention there’s a gigantic sense of innocence on ‘Black And White” that you just don’t hear really in pop music anymore, it’s quite charming. So far, this has easily been Spektor’s most focused album in years. Her lyrics are solid, her vocals are sweeter than ever, I really don’t have many complaints at all. The strings here that come in eventually are absolutely heavenly, and usher in this second phase of the album. This whole second half of “Remember Us To Life” has a gigantic theatrical feel. Between Regina’s powerful, heartfelt performances and these lush instrumentals, everything has an unbelievably huge feel to it. Up next is “The Light”. The rest of the album including this track here are more or less the kind of tracks you would expect from Regina. No more funk detours, no more synth pop, but that’s ok Regina’s strength has always been piano pop. “The Light” has a strong dreamlike feel to it, especially in all of the imagery that Regina is giving us. Some of Regina’s lines are just so clever, as she goes “ know the morning is wiser than the evening, I know that wrong and right can sometimes look the same. So many things I know, but they don't help me, Each day I open up my eyes and start again. “The Light” is overwhelmingly beautiful, and a track that constantly seems to be growing in sheer power. Once again, this has a super theatrical feel, with every instrumental right on point. The only complaint I have even though its a small one, is the length. “The Light” is over 6 minutes long, and don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t bored at any point. It just, ya know could have been a little shorter and it wouldn’t have hurt. “The Trapper and The Furrier” is the album’s most twisted couple of minutes. Once again, this one has a HUGE theatrical feel to it, but this track sounds so much more sinister, mostly from Regina’s short, frantic vocal passages and that doom-like piano floating through the back. Lyrically this is powerful, with Regina making some of the bigger statements of the album. However, while I thought that I would LOVE a more dark tinged Regina Spektor, but I’m not totally invested in this one. And it’s a shame because there is so much to love here. Regina’s performance is fiery and has a strong improv, and very reminiscent of her “11:11” album. Lyrically too this is absolutely a spectacle. Everything else though is kind of on the bland side sadly. However, when the instrumentals pick up in the last minute or so, “The Trapper and The Furrier” does get a whole lot more interesting. Sadly the next track “Tornadoland” doesn’t really do much for me either, with once again an intro that sounds exactly what you would expect and Regina Spektor intro to sound like. The vocal harmonies here are nice and all, but lyrically these tracks are seriously starting to blend together. “Tornadoland” is solid and all, and far from bad, but there’s really not much that sticks out either. The backing bells are nice and all, and the other instrumentals floating through the background make it powerful and all. Sadly it’s Regina that kinda underwhelms me. The instrumentals though make “Tornadoland” listenable, as every single instrumental gets epic beyond words in the final moments.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-aYEPsauho
“Obsolete” starts to wind down the album with the exact opposite of a fiery performance. This one is seriously one of the most heartbreaking moments of the entire album. Regina has so many dynamics she can hit, so many musical personalities, it’s really quite incredible. She can be quirky and charming, she can be filled with passion, or she can totally blow you away with an absolutely stunning performance like “Obsolete”. It’s the closest you’re going to find to a traditional ballad on this album, and even her piano playing is near tear-jerking. On top of all of that, this is one of the most personal tracks here, with Regina absolutely sounding like she wrote this is one of her darker moments in life. The backing synthesizers and strings that come in make “Obsolete” go from absolutely stunning to completely breathtaking. And while it’s a 6 minute track, I honestly wouldn’t have trimmed a single thing down. Then we have the finale, “The Visit”. For the most part, this is just more of the same in the best way. Regina here sounds just so adorable and cute, Once again the song’s topics are simple, Regina however makes it work though because she’s just that good. All of these backing instrumentals here (and for the rest of the album basically) in the past would have seriously drowned Regina out, overpowering her. “Remember Us To Life” though isn’t the case. The album as a whole is Regina’s most focused work in years, coming off as some huge production in a theatre of sorts.
Rating: 8.4/10
Give A Listen To: "Older and Taller", "Grand Hotel", “The Light”, Small Bill$”
Overall Thoughts: Regina may have taken a few years off, but the results don't lie. This is her strongest album in years, and this is the most focused she's sounded in ages. She's her same quirky self, and still feels totally comfortable in bringing out her more fiery side when need be. She writes wonderful, touching ballads, as well as plenty of cute, charming piano pop songs that I simply can't say no to.
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