Regina Spektor: Begin to Hope Review

As musical genius David St. Hubbins once brilliantly and articulately noted, "It's such a fine line between stupid, and clever." In no genre is that statement more appropriate than the anti-folk scene. The genre was brought to the masses through the quirky underground film Juno, which has left many people on the fence deciding whether anti-folk is a shallow and ridiculous pit filled with amateur musicians or something that's honest and brilliant. While there are probably more bands that fit into the shallow and ridiculous category, Regina Spektor's Begin to Hope manages to deliver quirky and incredibly literal lyrics belted out with the oddest of vocal inflections with sincere honesty and passion, ultimately translating into stellar music.

Spektor avoids being the overly cliche anti-folk artist and mends the genre with mainstream sensibilities. While anti-folk enthusiasts may bark foul, it is undoubtedly a move in the right direction. Songs like "Better" and "Samson" are achingly candid as Regina's voice sears with devotion and will leave you wanting to reach out to comfort this red headed oddball. To contrast the aforementioned songs, Begin to Hope scatters comical upbeat tracks like "On the Radio" and "That Time", both of which maintain their very own off-the-wall identity.

The difference between Begin to Hope and the rest of the anti-folk field is Begin to Hope's quirkiness comes off as endearing as opposed to being foolish. The unconventional vocal phrasings and literal lyrics practically devoid of any metaphors sound incredibly unique without bordering on stupidity. Spektor struck gold on this record.

Grade: A-