Cat Power's Chan (pronounced "Shawn") Marshall exists on a plane somewhat different than yours or mine, as anybody who has heard her sing knows.

Her voice is unlike anyone you've heard before, combining raw intimacy with a gruff, chalky confidence, and while any attempt to interpret her lyrics comes up short, their plain-spoken lines belie an otherwordly perspective on primal human emotions.

She's abstract, but always honest and true. That awareness has caused a tidal wave of adulation for Chan from her giant fan base, one that has tripled with each new record released.

They'll go anywhere with her, trusting that it always leads to a familiar place that will never seem the same.

CAT POWER YOU ARE FREE features Dave Grohl on drums on select tracks.

Recorded by Adam Kasper (Queens of the Stone Age, Foo Fighters, Pearl Jam), You Are Free is Chan's first record of original material since 1998Õs Moon Pix, and she's at the apex of her talents. She's fascinated with American music, as heard through her covers of songs by Dylan, Lou Reed, Moby Grape, and traditional folk on her last release, The Covers Record, and has absorbed its history into her own. Broken down to their essentials, songs like "Good Woman," "Fool" and "Speak For Me" could have been written sixty years ago on a rural Mississippi back porch, but Chan ably personalizes the traditional so it sounds handmade for the modern day. You Are Free represents a breathing history of music as seen through the eyes of a skilled musician on her way to becoming a national heirloom.