Starting off in New York café bars, by the time she performed in Argyllshire at the first Connect festival in 2007 Regina Spektor had developed into the best solo performer to take to the main stage that entire weekend. Not a bad feat when Bjork's around to stun the audience into submission.
Sat at her piano, Spektor had the crowd in the palm of her hand the entire time, wrapping beautifully constructed, idiosyncratic lyrics around fantastically sweet melodies.
Despite being in a field of thousands you could hear a pin drop when she didn’t speak, and you could see the entire crowd at Inveraray Castle fall in love with Regina.
It was wonderful to see, though it rendered even more remote the chances of someone such as myself ever marrying her, once she finally responds to any of those numerous letters I sent written in my own blood. (I still feel rather faint at the thought.) If you’re reading this Ms Spektor, a simple text message would suffice!
But yes, Regina Spektor is one of the most talented singer-songwriters of her generation. Being a red-haired female pianist will inevitably lead to Tori Amos comparisons, though Regina’s eccentricity is far more charming and she’s less wilfully obtruse. In short, we’re far more likely to be laughing with her than at her.
New album Far could prove her big breakthrough to the mainstream, though there’ll inevitably be those who hope that she remains more niche, so that they feel a closer bond to Regina and her superb songs, which are clever enough in their intricacy to reward those proper fans who'll pay attention to her every lyric.
Whatever happens, for a Sunday afternoon when you might well be in "recovery mode" there’s no better artists to soothe your blistered soul and cheer you right up. Just don’t expect Regina to personally respond to any handwritten paeans to her wondrous beauty, apparently she's not down for that sort of behaviour.
