WHICHEVER way you slice it, Chan Marshall has a fine set of pipes and she puts them to good use on this, her second album of covers.

But where many such projects are merely dim re-assessments of over-familiar songs, Cat Power is a maestro of interpretation. The opening version of New York New York retools the Sinatra standard as a smokey folk-blues piece; while Dylan's I Believe In You gets the barrelhouse bar boogie treatment and although the rendition of Billie Holiday's Don't Believe is slightly more respectful, it changes the essence of the song.

At times, songs tend to peter out, but this is a dashing stab at a time-honoured tradition that's lifted by the creamy studio band that includes master craftsman like Spooner Oldham, Larry McDonald and Jim White.