Cat Power includes: Chan Marshall (vocals, guitar). If catharsis is the name of the game, then Cat Power (AKA Chan Marshall) handily achieves this goal with YOU ARE FREE, her first studio album of original material since 1998's MOON PIX. She's a master at making more out of less, and to say Marshall's arrangements are sparse is an understatement. That said, songs like Maybe Not and I Don't Blame You benefit immensely from the solo piano accompaniment that gently prods along this southern singer-songwriter's creaky vocals. Even when she adds instrumentation, a measured approach keeps everything tight, whether Marshall is howling in front of Dave Grohl (who plays bass and drums), on the hypnotic, guitar-driven Speak For Me, or delivering an ethereal cover of Michael Hurley's Werewolf that features David Campbell's evanescent string arrangements. In singing about various facets of freedom, Chan Marshall addresses her lover's unhealthy lifestyle (the mournful Babydoll) and inability to open up (an echo-drenched Half of You). Along with Grohl, Eddie Vedder puts in a pair of appearances. The Pearl Jam frontman loses himself within the murmured duet Evolution and Good Woman, the fullest-sounding song on the album, like a modern-day Lomax recording with its scratchy fiddle, buzzing guitar, and spooky harmonies.