During an A-Level English lesson, my teacher told me that, while he was driving into college, a song had come on the stereo that he thought captured my vibe specifically. I was wary – until he decided to show the class the music video for ‘On the Radio’, Regina Spektor’s classic 2006 alt-pop ballad from the album Begin to Hope – and I felt seen.

Regina was my first musical love, back when I was fifteen, anxious, and confined to my bedroom in the year of our Lord 2020. This might seem late to develop an emotional attachment to music but, until I heard ‘Folding Chair’, my taste consisted of whatever 80s music videos my father played at dinner that week. I’m not exaggerating when I say Regina Spektor changed my life; she helped me develop my own music taste and provided a lyrical lifeline throughout my later teenage years.

“Spektor’s music is inextricably intertwined with many of my relationships”

I’m able to chart some of the biggest emotional events of the past five years of my life through Regina’s songs, which is an accolade I can only otherwise attribute to Kate Bush, whom I upsettingly discovered much later. Spektor’s music is inextricably intertwined with many of my relationships. A friend once excitedly texted me that he had met a long-haired dog called Samson so, whenever I hear ‘Samson’, I immediately think of this friend and the conversations we had over our three years working behind the same till.

Similarly, when I hear ‘On the Radio’, I instantly think of the English teacher who compared me to the song. I remember the safety and security I felt sat in the back of his lessons; the conversations I had with him at lunchtime; the novel he gave me when I left sixth form that will be on every bookshelf I own for the rest of my life. ‘Folding Chair’ and ‘Us’ remind me of the long, hot summer of 2020 and walking for hours around my neighbourhood just to have something to do. ‘Two Birds’, for some inexplicable reason, conjures up the trip to Paris my friend and I took at the end of sixth form, while ‘Ne Me Quitte Pas’ and ‘Loveology’ make my chest expand like a balloon.

Spektor’s music made me appreciate art’s capacity to become part of the fabric of someone’s life. Her lyrics still bleed into everything I write and I can perfectly visualise every word of many of her songs: her cadence, the exact way she pronounces the words… Her piano riffs are often simple but unlike anything you have heard before. Having begun to learn the instrument at seven with a mother who worked as a teacher in a Soviet college of music, it’s obvious that her talent was fated.

“Her lyrics still bleed into everything I write”

Initially achieving recognition through performances at downtown New York cafés and colleges, Spektor’s profile continued to grow until her single ‘Fidelity’ led Begin to Hope to reach number 20 on the Billboard 200 in 2006. Her sound has been assigned various genres – alt-pop, lilith, indie rock – but it is primarily anti-folk. Spektor’s combination of bright, idiosyncratic lyrics and often solo piano accompaniments perfectly encapsulate the movement, which encompassed artists like The Moldy Peaches, Kimya Dawson and Beck. I can (and will) genuinely talk for hours about her albums and lyrics. In that spirit, here is a brief beginner’s guide to Regina Spektor:

For first listeners…

Start with ‘Fidelity’ and ‘Eet’. Both are at opposite ends of Spektor’s music spectrum; both are equally strange and brilliant.

For a melancholy listen…

‘Walking Away’ is so haunting! ‘Samson’ is a masterpiece in every regard. Listen with caution – tears and a stomach ache are guaranteed.

…and the opposite…

‘Ne Me Quitte Pas’ slaps in a way no other song ever has or ever will.

Something strange…

‘Loveology’ from Spektor’s latest album features an extended spoken section in which the singer instructs a fictional classroom of students on a series of “-ologies”. The vibe is the strangest of the strange but somehow works perfectly.

One you may have heard…

‘You’ve Got Time’ (i.e., the theme tune of iconic Netflix original Orange is the New Black). There’s also a chamber version that was recorded for the final episode – unreal.

If you listen to nothing else…

‘Us’ is literally life-changing.