In the face of ravenous disciples hungry to devour everything she produces, Cat Power has a problem: new LP ‘The Greatest’ can’t, and doesn’t, live up to the near-timeless longevity of preceding gem-slash-masterpiece ‘You Are Free’. Not that you’d guess by this title track 45, however.

Chan Marshall’s signature sultry though concurrently vulnerable breath-filled vocal intonations sprinkle the magical ingredient that somehow never fails to hook hearts, hauling them from their moorings so gently that the melancholy is too pristine to comprehend. And the regretful tone – whether, as has been suggested, it be relaying the life of a struggling boxer or not – will strike a chord with every cautiously ambitious underachiever afraid of wasting their alloted time on Earth.

Much like the majority of the album, B-side ‘Hate’ won’t match that impact, all barren self-hatred served softly, but it’s reassuring to know Cat Power refuses to be completely consumed by her current MOR Memphis excursion all the same.