Regina Spektor releases new album Remember Us to Life four years past the last in the warmth of minor keys and full orchestra in tow. The singer-songwriter settles comfortably with aged maturity in her seventh record, penning a collection of songs that are largely cinematic and touching. Though perhaps relentlessly sobering and not quite the casual listen, Remember Us to Life aims to develop slowly like the themes it so often references.
Opening track “Bleeding Heart” is the obvious single choice despite its sadness in its uppity synth-pop chorus, driving alternative rock breakdown and somber ending. Pop rock sensibilities on the passage of time flourish in “Older and Taller” as it delves into time, dealing with the truth of growing old and the inevitability of death. The moving piano ballad “Grand Hotel” slowly churns about the fairy tale portal of hell beneath the floorboards, inciting imagination of its occupants passing through freely.
“Small Bill$” is eerily rhythmic and bizarre as Spektor raps through monetary effects on different character stories, breaking into echoing “na na” chorus and a flurry of odd sounds. A pair of slow ballads settle in beautifully on slowly losing love like a fading photograph (“Black and White”) and the process of moving from sleeping dreams to rising awake (“The Light”), both of which are heavily accentuated by the backing orchestra accompanying them.
Rising tension in “The Trapper and the Furrier” builds in a series of situations about the injustice within varying social structures, seeing Spektor here at her most earnest moment. “Tornadoland” moves in epic undertones of feeling insignificant, trying to be louder than the storms around you, a frantic tension running through its course. Live production sound courtesy of Leo Abrahams pushes the epic “Obsolete” well past six minutes, introspective upon existential feelings of manuscript obsolescence.
“Sellers of Flowers” is a slow ballad buildup, personal in its backdrop of small girl walking with her father, contemplating the winner and loser of a flower seller working in the midst of winter. Remember Us to Life unravels in closing track “The Visit” as a visitor from long ago stops by, looking upon how time always moves whether you’re really there or not.
Quite a bit has gone on since four years past for Regina Spektor due to the joys of motherhood. The weightiness of having a meaningful life as you grow older runs rampant from start to finish, with a sort of romantic quality as the orchestra echoes each piano sentiment. The singer-songwriter may be a rare breed in an industry awash with pop, but the likes of Remember Us to Life will undoubtedly leave a much more substantial impression.