Cat Power's (Chan Marshall) disarmingly naive music hits you in the gut with its bare simplicity. Her hurt, vibrato-less tone is pure, velvety, and completely understated. In its simplicity, it seems to convey all the sadness of the world--like a leafless tree silhouetted against slate-gray sky heavy with rain clouds. Marshall accompanies herself on guitar, piano, or autoharp. Her arrangements are minimal--hypnotic, repetitive riffs with chords that barely change. When she hits a bass note, the impact is jarring. Cat Power's music is sleep with all its troubled dreams.

On THE COVERS RECORD, Marshall explores the work of other songwriters. She deconstructs each song then reconstructs it as her own. Anyone familiar with Cat Power will be hard-pressed to tell the difference between these COVERS and Marshall's originals. "Satisfaction" is barely recognizable in its new, slowed-down version--the chorus is missing, and the lyrics take on Dylan-esque/surrealist proportions. Other covers include Velvet Underground's "I Found a Reason" and an autoharp setting of "Sea of Love." COVERS' retro/vintage, bare-boned, 21st century folk music puts you in mind of how such music must have been before the advent of recording, with songs changing form from one singer to the next.