On the surface, Chan Marshall (professionally known as Cat Power) seems like the kind of girl you’d like to bring home to Mom: artistic, sensitive, talented, pretty. However, you get the feeling that beneath her kitty cat purr lies a madwoman ready to violently pounce without warning. It’s this dichotomy that makes her records so consistently appealing. Marshall has the ability to seamlessly shift styles (and backup bands). Her ability to do so, while always remaining Chan Marshall, is a testament to her many talents as an artist.

Despite its title, Cat Power’s latest outing is not a best-of compilation, but rather, a rousing, soul-stirring soul record. Marshall has recreated the groovy-smooth sounds of the 1970’s soul music she grew up on. To do so, she returned to the rhythm and blues-soaked locale of Memphis, TN, where she hired Al Green’s guitarist and songwriting partner Mabon “Teenie” Hodges to serve as the backbone of her band. He is joined by his brother Leroy “Flick” Hodges on bass, Steve Potts of Booker T. and the MG’s on drums, and a wide array of Memphis session musicians who supply strings, horns and background vocals. In keeping authenticity intact, the album was recorded at Ardent Studios, home to sessions by Big Star, Bob Dylan and much of the Stax catalog.

Cat Power’s last long player, 2003’s “You Are Free,” was a more-focused but depressing disc, aided by appearances from Eddie Vedder and Dave Grohl (perhaps a nod to another portion of her musical upbringing?). And while there aren’t as many highs or lonely lows on “The Greatest,” that doesn’t mean the album is devoid of raw emotion either, it’s just harnessed differently. Marshall’s breathy, sultry vocals remain her strength, whether she’s singing a ballad of life inside a bottle (”Lived in Bars”) or a mid-tempo New Orleans blues jam (”After It All”). There’s a thread of humanity to her voice that infuses all of her material with kind of quiet gentleness.

The Greatest really hits its stride when the band is in full swing. Within the gospel groove of “Living Proof,” Marshall becomes a Memphis preacher delivering her Sunday sermon. “Do you have the answer?,” she asks, “Do you have living proof?” over a laid-back rhythm and rousing organ swells. “Could We” conjures Van Morrison’s blue-eyed soul as it chronicles a lovely afternoon date. “Islands” is a breezy Caribbean number that finds Marshall stranded on a tropical isle awaiting her rescue, “Captain has a treasure / Says I hold the key / Old mangroves and sweet winds blow songs for you and me.” And “Where Is My Love,” which sounds like it could have been penned by Rufus Wainwright, features Marshall on piano, a simple lyric and a lush string arrangement.

The concept of an indie soul record may seem strange at first, but Marshall never stutters. Part of the reason the record works so well is that love, in its many forms, runs amok on The Greatest — lost, unfulfilled, hopeful. And that’s where Marshall’s real Power comes from. Despite her constant shape shifting, she never stops being herself: vulnerable, pissed off, human. She is a living, beating, blood pumping heart. Isn’t that what soul music is really about anyway?

Related posts: You Have Bad Taste In Music | Jesus Christ This Guys Writes Good Tunes | 11 Records for 1100 Pennies | Math Rock for Metalheads