Russian-born, Bronx-bred singer-songwriter Regina Spektor shares Tori Amos' ability to convey tenderness, melancholy and bone-deep weirdness in a single breathy note. But Spektor's pop sensibilities are even sharper than those of her most commonly acknowledged predecessor: She's got unmistakable warmth and a pronounced sunny side to go with her impeccable phrasing, which finds her crafting and subtly bending every note, whether she's pining for faded memories or honking like a dolphin.
She opts for the former over the latter in the marvelous "Eet," which finds her pondering the way music can distract listeners from their woes: "You spend half of your life trying to fall behind / You're using your headphones to drown out your mind." As for the non-word in the title, it's a vocal flourish as much as anything (as well as a nod to the rhyme at the end of each verse), but Spektor makes that "eet" sound seem genuinely musical, especially when she uses it as the jumping-off point for simulating the sound of a hi-hat. In Spektor's world, every sound sings.
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