What We Saw from the Cheap Seats is the sixth studio album by American alternative singer-songwriter Regina Spektor. On November 21, 2011, Spektor posted on her Facebook page that the album had been recorded with Mike Elizondo in Los Angeles during the summer of 2011. It was released on May 29, 2012. The album is a collection of new material along with the very first studio recordings of several of Spektor's older live songs. At the time of the album's release, "Jessica" was the only entirely new song. "How" and "The Party" had been debuted only weeks before during Spektor's headlining tour, "Don't Leave Me " had been released in an alternate version on a previous album, Songs, and all others had been performed in past performances.
Singles and promotion
The album's first single, "All the Rowboats", was released for streaming on February 27, 2012, and for digital download the following day. It was featured on a prime spot on the CW's Ringer on March 13, 2012, making her the "Artist Spotlight" of the week. The album's second single, "Don't Leave Me " is a new version of "Ne Me Quitte Pas", a song originally from Spektor's 2002 album Songs. Both of these singles have accompanying music videos. On October 16, 2012, "How" was released as the third single. The album was promoted through two tours. The first was a southern US tour on which Spektor opened for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers for eight shows in April and May 2012. The second was an international show that opened with three sold-out shows in New York City, Boston, and Philadelphia. Only Son, a band led by her husband Jack Dishel, was the opening act for all three shows. The tour, which extended to several European countries, ran through the summer of 2012. Appearances to promote the album include the Late Show with David Letterman, Good Morning America, The Colbert Report, a New York Times interview, a Vh1 performance, and special "Live on YouTube" engagement.
Critical reception
Similarly to Spektor's previous studio albums, What We Saw from the Cheap Seats received a favourable reaction upon its release. On the Metacritic review-aggregating site it accrued a score of 73 out of 100, based on 28 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews". Several critics praised its unique quirk, with Rolling Stone reviewer, who gave the album 3.5 out of 5 stars, claiming that the album "may be her best," and made Spektor "her generation's Joni Mitchell." A staff reviewer for Sputnikmusic gave the album the maximum 5 out of 5 stars, writing that it is Spektor's "best effort yet," and that "an artist who could already seemingly do no wrong went and became even more perfect." American Songwriter writes that "Cheap Seats as a whole...points toward ever unfolding new directions for an artist whose sense of whimsy never excludes the possibility of real-world despair."
Commercial performance
What We Saw from the Cheap Seats has thus far debuted on at least nine national album charts. In the United States, the album debuted at No. 3, with sales of 42,000, a slight decrease from the opening of her previous album. The album has sold 174,000 copies in the United States as of September 2016.
Track listing
All songs written by Spektor except where noted. ;Deluxe edition bonus tracks
Personnel
All credits for tracks one through eleven are listed in the album's booklet.
Regina Spektor: vocals, piano, keyboards, marimba, co-producer, songwriter
