Regina Ilyinichna Spektor's music has been labelled "eccentric" by music journalists too lazy to formulate a genuine opinion on a diverse (albeit scatterbrained) body of work ranging in style from classical piano ("Apres Moi") to cutesy pop ("On the Radio") to the utterly macabre ("Chemo Limo"), sometimes within the very same song ("Back of A Truck.") Criticism aside, Spektor has risen from posting free albums to the internet (2002's Songs) to certifiable Gold (2006's Begin to Hope) in just under five years. That's no small feat for anyone, let alone an eccentric Russian-born classical pianist.
But when 2009's Far felt heavy by the hand of over-production, many fans were left want for the intimacy of her earlier recordings: little more than Regina, piano, and her patented human beatbox metronome. Ironically, its under the hand of superstar producer Mike Elizondo
(Eminem, Fiona Apple, Dr. Dre) that new single "All the Rowboats"
channels the live studio energy of her earlier work paired with the broken electronics of previous tracks "Edit" and "Machine."
The Adria Petty directed video (she also directed the excellent "Countdown" for Beyonce) features the sort of Michel Gondry cartoon reality props that are reminiscent of his video for Bjork's "Human Behavior" as Regina fights her way through claymation waves, undersea nets, and a ginormous maritime rope vice before finally rowing to freedom on fluorescent oars. A perfectly nightmarish video for an ominous track that bodes very well for her upcoming album.
"All the Rowboats" is the first single off What We Saw from the Cheap Seats out May 29th. Watch the video below:
