12th July - Feist's Let It Die

Artist – Album: Feist – Let It Die

Released:  12^th July 2004              

Sounds Like: Joni Mitchell meets Françoise Hardy meets PJ Harvey (what a good dinner party that would be!)

Ok, so, I’ve already spoken about how great the Canadian music scene has been in the last few years. Well to Arcade Fire, Broken Social Scene, Destroyer, Elf Power, Neko Case, you can add Feist. Cos she’s a bit of a beaut.

Let It Die has the quite fascinating format of being half originals and half cover; in fact, the album is split cleanly in two – the first five songs are originals, including the lovely opener ‘Gatekeeper’ and the warm, acoustic melody of ‘Mushaboom’; whilst the last six consist of entirely sumptuous covers, including ‘L’amour ne dure pas toujours’, a respectful cover of one of the delectable Françoise Hardy’s best, whilst ’Secret Heart’ is a sweet, chirpy pop effort. ‘Inside and Out’ may well be the best track on the album, as Feist’s elegant vocals are married to a sparse and sophisticated verse arrangement and a wonderfully kitsch eighties chorus.

Now I’m not saying this album is going to change your world; far from it, but then this album is not designed to do so. Feist’s hushed, sensual delivery is perfectly backed by the sometimes jazzy, sometimes bossa nova, sometimes French pop soundtrack.  So it’s a bit quiet, it’s still great.

Albumaday... rating: 7/10

1.       Gatekeeper – 2:16

2.       Mushaboom – 3:44

3.       Let It Die – 2:55

4.       One Evening – 3:36

5.       Leisure Suite – 4:07

6.       L’amour ne dure pas toujours – 3:16

7.       Lonely Lonely – 4:10

8.       When I Was a Young Girl – 3:08

9.       Secret Heart – 3:49

10.   Inside and Out – 4:17

11.   Now at Last – 3:16

Listen to ‘Inside and Out’: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmG0sPyZJBg