Review Summary: Coppola's debut is witty and well-produced
1997 was an interesting time for popular music: Radiohead fretted about technology; Aqua brought Barbie to life; and Imani Coppola dropped a great leftfield record in the vein of Beck but more in the spirit of "Weird Al" Yankovic.
Coppola's debut single, "Legend of a Cowgirl," launched her into the Top 40 on both sides of the Atlantic, and won her praise. Though her album was far less successful (reaching a paltry no. 128 on the UK Albums chart), it wasn't for lack of quality; it blends charming and sometimes hilarious lyrics with expert production, sampling The Doors and Donovan.
Album opener "I'm a Tree" is pretty representative of the whole album. Built around a loop of The Doors' "Soul Kitchen," the song includes interesting juxtapositions ("There's a river on the highway/Things ain't goin' my way"), empowerment ("Keep your head up, girl/Keep your head up"), and some clever, if ambiguous, tree metaphors. Overall, the song can be interpreted as a tune about the 9-to-5 grind and life in the city, a theme that continues on "Naked City," in which Coppola forgoes her clothes and her job and transforms the city into a sort of natural utopia.
Her hit, "Legend of a Cowgirl," is a highlight of the album, too, if for no other reason than that it sounds considerably less hooky than much popular music did at the time. Aided by a sample of Donovan's "Sunshine Superman," Coppola turns the tables on male-dominated westerns, instead casting herself in the role of head honcho - the song is nothing short of exhilarating, as she narrates her plans to "Pack my bags and mount my horse." It's a lesson in what a story song should sound like.
Of course, "Legend" isn't the only story told on the record. On "Soon (I Like It)", Coppola interacts with some friendly aliens and veers close to country-pop; on "Karma and the Blizzard," another of the album's must-hears, she tells the tale of a homeless man who receives a plane ticket to Hawaii and discovers that he loves to fly. Many of the songs remind that a song needn't be dirty or shocking to be entertaining; apart from some brief obscenity, the songs are child-friendly. The wit sometimes seems akin to "Weird Al" Yankovic, as on "It's All About Me, Me, and Me," where Coppola tells the tale of three distinct and bizarre alternate personalities.
It's difficult to choose a single genre for the album: R&B would apply for much of it, but the country and rock influences seem equally prevalent. Overall, Leftfield is the only genre (or style, if one is a stickler for terminology) that really encapsulates the diverse influences and sounds on the record. Though "Chupacabra" didn't bring Coppola the fame and fortune that her talent deserves, it does demonstrate her tremendous abilities as a comedian and songwriter. As she sings in "Soon": "Try it, you just might like it."
