Wednesday, April 25, 2007

The Reminder - Feist

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My Moon My Man was probably the most commercial thing Feist has ever put on record. Yes there were certain cuts from Let It Die that wouldn't sound out of place on the radio, but never has Leslie Feist come up with a shinier, happier simple pop song.

And by listening to 1234, another track on the delightful new album The Reminder, you could be fooled into thinking that Feist has "sold out" for commercial gain. It's not to say that either song is bad, in fact it's far from it. Both are so good that it's difficult to align it with the more "out-there" aspects of her oeuvre. But fear not, The Reminder shows Feist in all her genre-hopping glory.

So the jazzy, Norah Jones-esque So Sorry can sit snugly with the piano driven The Limit To Your Love which can conversely sit quite happily alongside Brandy Alexander with it's finger-clicking "drum" beat. Indeed on the latter when she sings "I’d like to be the girl for him, and cross the sea and land for him" most men listening will no doubt think they'd be quite glad if they were the man for her.

Granted with such an eclectic range of styles not everything works, and I can well imagine different listeners picking out different individual highlights. But in a way that just goes to show you what an album this is. It's not perfect, but it's never less than captivating. Even on the times you're thinking "she's not got that right" Leslie Feist is such a talent that you can usually see/hear why she tried. I'd recommend this wholeheartedly.

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