What do you hear in Sean Marshall's voice on The Greatest?

I think that to at least the naked ear, it's somber, but it's a kind of somber tone that has a slight pitch of triumph.

You'll blow me down for the breath of soft, it can watch. I always talk about how sadness is not just a sadness or how no emotion is just one single thing.

And oftentimes, at least for me, with grief or with sadness, there's kind of a undercurrent of what comes after.

Once I want to be, like me. So it is somber, but it's also a kind of hope for what rests beyond the somberness.

That's Henne Fibdurakib. He's an author, poet, and journalist.

In 2006, when the greatest came out, Cat Power was already an indie icon.

It was her seventh record. She was a decade into her career.

The greatest was a triumph. It was her crossover out of indie rock.

Being backed by the legendary Memphis rhythm band

had effectively canonized her.

But her live shows had become

infamous. She sometimes struggled

to finish them and had breakdowns on stage.

Her pain was public

and had become a defining part of her image.

Do you think if you couldn't hear so much of that struggle

or you couldn't witness what you heard in her voice,

do you think her work would be as resonant?

No, I think seeing the person unraveling and attempting to reconstruct themselves

informs the album to actually go to these shows

and to see Sean Marshall struggling but still kind of sometimes at least persevering through

...