Becca Stevens is one of the leading Americana musicians of today and her fourth album ‘Regina’ is a culmination of her solo career so far. Her last two albums, ‘Weightless’ and ‘Perfect Animal’ are both extraordinary records, but the new 2017 release is a masterpiece that elevated her recognition as a brilliant artist on a completely different level. Combining elements of pop, rock, and funk; classical music, British folk, and jazzy Appalachian bluegrass, Stevens produced an original piece of art that impressed everyone from the critics to the fans worldwide. She made a wise choice of a single to promote the album - the song Queen Mab, a take on Shakespeare’s fairy midwife, is outstanding. The word ‘regina’ (Latin for ‘queen’) is the idea around which this record is based and producer Troy Miller’s work on Regina provides the perfect setting for the record’s regal concept. Miller, famous for his collaboration with Laura Mvula, Gregory Porter, and other artists, poured a lot of his experience into the project, making it grandiose with strong attention to details ranging from the deep bass of ‘Queen Mab’ to the lush string quartet arrangements of ‘The Muse’, just to point out few of them.
One of the strongest aspects of the album are the intricate lyrics borrowed from powerful literary and historical sources, as well as Stevens’ more than excellent musical adaptations of those lyrics. That aspect was particularly accented by BBC Radio 2 which praised the album saying, "Lyrically, the album is astounding.” Although based on historical sources, the lyrics show that Becca Stevens is a great interpreter of human nature.
‘Regina’ is also notable for the collaborations included on it. The album sees contributions from the Attacca String Quartet, Laura Mvula, Jacob Collier, Michael League, and songwriting legend, David Crosby. If I had to nitpick, I’d say that the album lacks one, perhaps two, more songs like the mysterious but catchy ‘Queen Mob’ and the powerful opener ‘Venus’. I was kind of waiting for another song like that towards the end of the album, but it doesn’t happen. Overall, this is one of the best releases of 2017, taking all genres in perspective. I’m sure we’ll be waiting for Becca’s next release with great expectations.
