You Are Free

Last updated
You Are Free
Cat Power - You Are Free.jpg
Studio album by
ReleasedFebruary 18, 2003
Recorded2002
Genre Indie rock
Length53:07
Label Matador
Producer
Cat Power chronology
The Covers Record
(2000)
You Are Free
(2003)
The Greatest
(2006)

You Are Free is the sixth studio album by Cat Power, the stage name and eponymous band of American singer-songwriter Chan Marshall. It was released in 2003 on Matador Records. The album features guest appearances by Dave Grohl of Foo Fighters, Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam and Warren Ellis of the Dirty Three.

Contents

Recording

You Are Free was recorded over the course of a year, the longest Marshall had spent recording an album at that point. Marshall and engineer Adam Kasper recorded about 40 songs during these sessions. [1]

In a 2003 interview with Pitchfork , Marshall explained the album was recorded "Sporadically. While I was traveling...Adam was working on other things, and I worked on his schedule. He'd get these really nice studios, and when he had off time we'd go in and then try to remember what we did like two months ago and pull that tape up. I'd be like, 'Uh, no, I wanna do something new,' and then I'd write a new song. So it basically worked like that-- every few months getting together and essentially writing new songs." [2] According to Marshall, Kasper helped her decide which of the 40 songs they recorded should make it onto the album. [2]

Marshall revealed that she chose Kasper because "I was looking for somebody who would let me do what I wanted to do, who's a really good engineer," and said that she saw him as an engineer, rather than a producer. [2]

Numerous songs on the album are performed solo, with only Marshall on vocals and guitar or piano. Dave Grohl plays drums on the songs "Speak For Me," "He War" and "Shaking Paper," and plays bass on "Shaking Paper." Eddie Vedder provides backing vocals on "Good Woman" and "Evolution," while Warren Ellis plays violin on "Good Woman."

The songs "Good Woman" and "Werewolf" feature string arrangements by David Campbell, which were recorded after Marshall's vocals had been completed, at the Boat Studio in Los Angeles, California. [1]

Reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic 82/100 [3]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [4]
Chicago Sun-Times Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [5]
Entertainment Weekly B+ [6]
Mojo Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [7]
NME 9/10 [8]
Pitchfork 8.9/10 [9]
Rolling Stone Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [10]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [11]
Spin 8/10 [12]
Uncut Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [13]

You Are Free, Marshall's first album of original material since the critically acclaimed Moon Pix (1998), has received widespread critical acclaim since its release. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 82, based on 26 reviews, which indicates "universal acclaim". [3]

Kelefa Sanneh of Rolling Stone wrote that "Free may be her most beautiful album, as well as her cagiest: There are gaunt rock songs and ramshackle ballads, all painted with bold, sure strokes that belie her ambivalence." [10] Heather Phares of AllMusic wrote that "You Are Free may take awhile longer than expected to unfold, but once it does, its excellence is undeniable." [4] Chris Ott of Pitchfork called it an album "full of arresting, serene beauty...Sans a handful of lesser inclusions and tributes, the imaginary, shorter version of You Are Free is flawless." [9]

In 2009, Pitchfork placed the album at number 98 on their "The Top 200 Albums of the 2000s" list. [14]

"Werewolf" is on the soundtrack of Pedro Almodóvar's 2009 film Broken Embraces . [15]

Commercial performance

You Are Free became Cat Power's first album to chart on the Billboard 200, reaching number 105. [16] The album also debuted at number one 1 on Billboard's Heatseekers Albums Chart. [17] As of 2007, You Are Free has sold over 163,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan. [18] The song "He War" was released as a single, and a music video for the song directed by Brett Vapnek was released.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Chan Marshall, except where noted

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."I Don't Blame You" 3:05
2."Free" 3:34
3."Good Woman" 3:58
4."Speak for Me" 3:04
5."Werewolf" Michael Hurley 4:08
6."Fool" 3:49
7."He War" 3:31
8."Shaking Paper" 4:36
9."Babydoll" 2:56
10."Maybe Not" 4:19
11."Names" 4:50
12."Half of You" 2:42
13."Keep on Runnin'" John Lee Hooker 3:51
14."Evolution" 4:44
Total length:53:07
Japanese Bonus Track
No.TitleLength
15."The Party"2:49
Total length:55:56

Personnel

Technical

Charts

Chart (2003)Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA Charts) [19] 71
French Albums (SNEP) [20] 67
UK Albums (OCC) [21] 157
US Billboard 200 [16] 105
US Independent Albums (Billboard) [22] 2
US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard) [23] 1

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