How Regina Spektor and Jeff Lynne forged one of the most unlikely indie collaborations of the century
Russian-born singer-songwriter Regina Spektor has become an indie staple for her unique anti-folk. Her quirky, kitschy lyrics and vocals earned her appearances on the soundtracks for The Chronicles of Narnia and 500 Days of Summer. She even penned the theme song for Netflix’s Orange is the New Black.
Spektor’s successes have led her to work with some of the best producers in the industry. On her fifth album, Far, she collaborated with Dr. Dre protégé Mike Elizondo, Irish producer Jacknife Lee, and Electric Light Orchestra co-founder Jeff Lynne. Lynne’s CV is stacked with some of the biggest names in the business – he worked with George Harrison, Tom Petty, Bob Dylan, and more. Despite this, Lynne’s reputation did not precede him, and Spektor had no idea who he was when she worked with him.
The ‘Mr. Blue Sky’ singer produced four tracks for the record – ‘Blue Lips’, ‘Folding Chair’, ‘Genius Next Door’, and ‘Wallet’. Spektor recalled the experience of working with him while talking to Pitchfork Media, sharing, “It’s kind of funny. Actually, it’s kind of sad – I didn’t know who he was or what he had done when I asked him if he’d like to produce some songs. I’m the opposite of a knowledgeable music aficionado; tomorrow, I could discover an amazing artist that people have been listening to for the past 60 years and be, like, ‘Wow’.”
Spektor only contacted Lynne after finding out that he had produced a record she loved – Tom Petty’s third and final studio album, Highway Companion. She explained, “I noted him down so next time I did a record I could actually tell people, like, ‘I have a few producers I’d like to check out.’ I remember the silence on the phone when I said the name ‘Jeff Lynne’ to Tom Whalley, the president of Warner Bros. But Tom was really positive about it.”
A nervous Spektor met Lynne to drink tea, but the gravitas of his place in the music industry only began to dawn on her after they had collaborated: “And after I worked with him, I started to understand, like, ‘Oh yeah! That’s Jeff – I know that song.’ Sometimes you know the song or voice, but you have no idea who sings it. But Jeff’s definitely in the world of legends. He had these banjoleles – a mix between a banjo and a ukulele – and I picked one up, and he was like, ‘Yeah, George [Harrison] gave that to me.’ I was like, ‘Oh my god,’ and then put it down.”
Alongside his talent for production, Lynne also lent his voice to the record. Spektor once emphasised the impact of Lynne, recalling, “On the last record, I started harmonising with myself for the first time, but I never sang with someone else on my records. His voice is so beautiful. It was a singing choir with Jeff, and once we started doing it, we did it on a bunch of songs.”
Spektor got more than she bargained for when she unknowingly called a legendary producer in for her record, and their collaboration served the album’s beautiful vocal arrangements and production. However, the strange happenstance surrounding this harmonious match is a symbol of how Spektor approaches music. While some ardent ELO fans will surely blast her as ignorant, this big name blackspot also typifies the strength of her songwriting and why her back catalogue is one of the most eclectic of recent times: she doesn’t get bogged down in the dogma of pop and holding the names of inspirations dear, and instead welcomes everything fleetingly into her fold.
