Regina Spektor’s Home, Before and After Is A Tribute to Longing

By Gabriella Sims

Regina Specter’s new album, Home Before and After has a vast and spacious sound that captures the feeling of loneliness, with the clever and whimsical melodies that we expect from her. Her playful lyrics draw us in, intrigue us, and break our hearts when we realize the heavy and complex themes that they represent. “I’m pulling at this thread and maybe something comes out that I don’t even fully understand,” she tells Vanity Fair about her songwriting process, “It’s been pointed out that I revisit certain things in songs. Death. God. The little things in life.” Regina has said in many interviews that she often surprises herself with the form that her songs end up taking. She believes the meaning of her songs are in the power of the listener.

Due to the pandemic, Regina recorded the vocals by herself in a former church in Woodstock, New York and the orchestra recorded remotely from Macedonia. Nevertheless, the elements combined to create a full and atmospheric sound. Prior to recording her album, Regina Spektor did a week-long Broadway residency in 2019. She brought to the stage some songs that she performed live in her early career but never recorded. Among these are “Raindrops” and “Loveology,” which have a place on her newest album. Being on Broadway likely influenced the development of “Spacetime Fairytale,” which builds a dramatic story about time as it advances through different phases. The almost 9-minute song includes a tap-dancing break halfway through along with some showtune-inspired piano. It surprises us and is full of contradictions – which means it’s everything we already love about Regina Spektor and more.

Home, before and after, finds the singer-songwriter ruminating on everything from romance to having a beer with God. (via Vanity Fair)

The album opens with “Becoming All Alone,” which is about feeling loneliness creep up on you while walking home alone on the streets of New York City. This song being the first thing you hear is fitting for the theme, as it comes out of nowhere the way that loneliness can. She is calling out to God, asking Him to be her friend and asking Him if it gets better. This theme recurs throughout the album, as “One Man’s Prayer” is about a man asking God for someone to love him. The slow and melancholic tracks are balanced with some upbeat ones, like “Sugarman '' and “Up A Mountain” – which opens with meditative whispering and then transforms into a fast-tempo pop song. “Sugarman'' has a similar shift at its beginning and end, allowing it to transition smoothly between the wistful “Raindrops” and “What Might Have Been.” “Raindrops'' is a gentle song about the ache of longing and unrequited love – “You don't know, but that's okay. You might find me anyway. Don't you know that I belong arm in arm with you, baby?” “What Might Have Been” contrasts between lighthearted whimsy and intense emotion – “Pirates and parrots go together. Sticks and carrots go together. Loving and leaving go together” – as does “Loveology'' – “Porcupine-ology, antler-ology…Train-ology, plane-ology…I'm sorry-ology. Forgive me-ology.”

Initially, Spektor was in the anti-folk scene that was centered on New York City’s East Village. Unsurprisingly, anti-folk rose in response to folk music. However, different people can have very different beliefs about what it is supposed to be. For example, some people see it as an evolution of folk music, thus making it a kind of continuation of its predecessor. In contrast, other people consider it to be folk music mixed in with punk elements, which is fitting considering its anti-establishment sentiment. Whatever the case, Spektor’s involvement with the indie music scene was what raised her to a position of prominence, thus enabling her to find greater and greater degrees of success. (via TVOvermind)

During the 6 years that have gone by since the release of her last album, Regina became a mother. Having released 7 studio albums in the past 18 years, she is now in a new phase of her career where she expects to be creating music at a slower rate. Perhaps the break gave her time to reflect on her early work and inspired her to bring back the songs that she started with. And whether it’s another long stretch of time before her next release, we can do the same by listening to our own favorite songs from the past. Visiting a favorite song can feel like returning home.

“Home is where the light's on

No matter how long you've been gone”

- Through A Door, Regina Spektor