July 27
The dulcet, oft spectral tones of Regina Ilyinichna Spektor’s voice are immediately recognizable as hers and hers alone. Born in Moscow, she immediately displayed a proclivity for music, studying classical piano at age six. Her family left Russia for New York City, and Spektor continued her training, focusing on composition. By her later teen years she had released 11:11, a bluesy, jazzy effort, with standouts like the sensually staccato “Love Affair.” She continued to refine her sound with 2002’s Songs, which displayed her piano prowess and vocal dexterity on tracks like “Lacrimosa,” and then 2004’s Soviet Kitsch, featuring the gut-wrenchingly soulful “Carbon Monoxide.” During this time her popularity in the East Village anti-folk scene blossomed. When she released Begin to Hope in 2006, she fully crossed over into the mainstream. Gold-certified, this record dominated the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart with the vocally tantalizing tracks “On the Radio,” “Better” and “Fidelity.” Her followups, 2009’s Far (featuring the escalating, melodic gift “Eet”) and 2012’s What We Saw From the Cheap Seats (with the perkily Parisian, horn-tinged “Don’t Leave Me”) both debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 albums chart. Her latest, 2016’s Remember Us To Life, has garnered critical laudation from virtually every music publication and outlet imaginable. Her music is routinely featured in TV & film, including Orange Is The New Black, Grey’s Anatomy, Weeds, How I Met Your Mother, Veronica Mars, and The Leftovers (with the unforgettably poignant “Laughing With”). An official “Steinway Artist,” she also plays the guitar with finesse and contributes to numerous humanitarian and philanthropic causes.