“The Reminder”
Feist
INTERSCOPE RECORDS
(Out Of 5)
At one point, there were approximately five manifestations of my love of Feist’s new album on my Facebook. Though I may be a bit obsessive, “The Reminder” is filled with all that makes Miss Leslie Feist so indisputably lovely.
The music on the opening track “So Sorry” is simple and subdued, highlighting the quirky Canadian’s soulful and smooth voice as she convinces listeners of the two words she “always thinks after you’re gone.” However, it is near-impossible to hold any sort of grudge toward Feist as she breaks into the album’s shrine to indie-pop, “I Feel It All.” Though the song is a dance waiting to happen (see also: Feist’s music video for “1234”), Feist tragically admits that “I’ll be the one who’ll break my heart / I’ll end it, though you started it.”
Feist is not the first or even millionth woman to choose control over happiness or solitude over love, but she might very well be the only one you feel for, rather than ridicule or reproach.
In “My Moon, My Man,” Feist gives listeners additional reasons for her special position. Featuring mainly bass and her complementary sultry voice, this song showcases Feist at her most seductive, though her lyrics reveal that she is more helpless and lost than confident. The song is reminiscent of “Mushaboom” ““ her head-shaking, feel-good single from her sophomore album, “Let It Die” ““ because it possesses the same power of being played repeatedly without losing its original appeal. All of these qualities make “My Moon, My Man” the album’s most accessible track ““ which explains why I heard it while browsing the inexpensive, mass-produced dresses at Forever 21.
Though this album is accessible, even the most poppy of the songs express more genuine emotion than the fanciest Hallmark card. Unlike overproduced mainstream pop, there is nothing empty about this album. Alternately, as tracks “How My Heart Behaves” and “Honey Honey” show, the album functions as Feist’s debutante ball as a full-fledged soulful songstress. While her work with Broken Social Scene was revered, she was merely a sometime-member, and though “Let It Die” put her on the map, half of the songs were covers.
So, when Feist proclaims “Tell me that you love me more” in “1234,” the line functions less as a request than a keen summation of the empathy, beauty and fun Feist invokes in order to get listeners to tell her what she wants to hear.
““ Mindy Poder
E-mail Poder at mpoder@media.ucla.edu.