It looks like Chan Marshall gets the last laugh. Pitchfork’s oft-dismissive review of her 2006 album The Greatest doesn’t even talk about the music until its third paragraph. Instead, it begins with the artist’s mental health struggles, calling her “Beautifully Tortured.” But as we arrive at the 20th anniversary of that album’s release, Marshall will be playing The Greatest in its entirety on tours in the United States and Europe. She will also release Redux, a three-song EP, available both digitally and on 10-inch vinyl via Domino Recording Co.
Time has been kind to The Greatest. As Amy Phillips wrote in that same review, “the middle chunk of The Greatest just feels old. It’s beyond “adult”: These songs seem musty and outdated, like stuff my grandparents might have danced to during The War.” But Marshall is an old soul, and rather than make music for the indie kids and hipsters, she crafted an album that sounded wistful, melancholy, and mature for its time. Twenty years on, The Greatest has a timeless quality that some short-sighted reviewers couldn’t understand.
For Redux, Marshall convened Dirty Delta Blues—her heavy-hitting backing band—to record the EP at Church House Studios in Austin, Texas. Featuring guitarist Judah Bauer (The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion), keyboardist Gregg Foreman (The Delta 72, Jesse Malin), bassist Erik Paparozzi (Lizard Music), and drummer Jim White (Dirty Three, Hard Quartet) and recorded by Stuart Sikes, the EP serves as a brief appetizer for the tour which kicks off in Houston on February 12. It is also a reason to pull out your copy of The Greatest.
Redux begins with a cover of James Brown’s “Try Me.” Abandoned during the original sessions for The Greatest, this new version may lack the fire of Brown’s original but lends itself well to Marshall’s soulful voice. The EP continues with a new version of “Could We,” a Marshall original first featured on The Greatest. Hewing closer to the rendition Marshall performed live when promoting The Greatest, this version feels more lived-in than the original, with the horns missing and Foreman’s keyboard featuring prominently.The EP closes with a cover of Prince’s “Nothing Compares 2 U.” Marshall said she recorded the song to honor Teenie Hodges, who played guitar on The Greatest and passed away in 2014. Though Marshall’s rendition doesn’t eclipse Sinéad O’Connor’s popular cover, this version isn’tt trying to reach the same transcendent heights. Instead, Marshall does what she has always done best—crafted inspired music that both soulful youngsters and their grandparents could dance to.
