Nearly a year after Jukebox, her last release, Cat Power has put out an EP that serves as a follow-up, containing six covers that were left off of the earlier album. This works out well, as her reflective, dark, and doleful sounds are much better suited to the shorter days of the year. They shine more brightly on a wet, winter day than they ever could in the sunlight, so the timing of Dark End of the Street feels appropriate.

First and foremost, the list of songs has to be appreciated in and of itself. That being said, Cat Power was able to rock most (if not all) of her selections. Although drawing from a diverse assortment of styles, including blues, soul, classic rock, Celtic, and folk, she still manages to stamp her own characteristic, definitive sound onto each song. However, this works to her advantage to varying degrees.

With her rich alto vocals heavy with mood, Cat Power proves her voice and style to be especially well-suited to performing the soul classics “Dark End of the Street” by James Carr and Otis Redding’s “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long (To Stop Now).” Over a backdrop of blues guitar leads with slow and steady drumbeats, she exhibits an impressive amount of control and force while belting out these timeless masterpieces and infusing them with her own mournful tinge.

Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Fortunate Son” isn’t bursting with the same fiery energy as the original, but Cat Power’s version still brings that in-your-face and “tell it like it is” vibe to this rock classic that remains as relevant today as ever. It’s a significant shift away from riotous rebellion, but then again I suppose it’s not the ’60s anymore. By taking the intensity level down a few notches and adding some jazzy undertones, she offers her own version of a bold “fuck you” to the system.

A seemingly random (yet entirely genius) track addition is a song that has been redone time and time again, most notably by The Pogues. Her cover of “Ye Auld Triangle” starts with soft, gentle strumming and captures the essence of an overpowering nostalgia. It proves to be a truly magical version, once the heart-wrenching strings come in, which are subdued just enough to illustrate the full measure of longing. This atypical number brings some unexpected extra flavor to the EP.

The one song that was a real disappointment was the folk ballad “Who Knows Where the Time Goes” by Sandy Denny. Although this was a great choice of song whose energy logically meshes with the rest of the track list, the delivery was woefully amiss. The original was filled with an abundance of vitality, even though it is a song of loss and yearning. While I wouldn’t dream of holding Cat Power to a standard of vitality, I did expect her to find a way to work her token melancholy charm into a tune like this. Instead, it seems lackadaisical and indifferent, as though all that “time” the song is about is already long gone and she really couldn’t care less. The resulting sound is a dull drone where a lilt used to be.

All in all, you’ve got to hand it to Cat Power for two things — she’s got taste and she’s got style. With six must-have classics transformed by the entirely new light that she casts on them, this EP is definitely worth checking out. Although these aren’t songs you’d want to drive to or upload to your iPod for your morning jog, they’re perfect for the long, reflective nights that the winter has in store for the months to come.