Pleasure, Feist’s latest album, is really growing on me.
The minimal instrumentation draws me back to the Let it Die days, when the songs were lush, but not much more besides her guitar and voice. A perfect album for some wine, books, candles, and good company.
We know what happened next with The Reminder (all the hits, straight to the stratosphere thanks to that iPhone commercial).
In 2011, her third proper album (technically fourth), Metals, was released and essentially went in one ear and out the other for me. Granted, that year I was deeply into dance music, just moved back to Chicago, partying (a lot), and was trying to make it in the music industry. Still, Feist is one of my favorites and has been since 2004-ish, when I discovered Broken Social Scene. You’d think I’d give this more of a chance.
Pleasure points me backwards though, and wow, Metals has aged incredibly well. “How Come You Never Go There,” “Caught a Long Wind,” “Best in Each Other,” and arguably one of her best songs, the absolute stunner “Comfort Me.” Metals is a great album that got sucked into the vortex of its predecessor.
I realize that Pleasure just came out this year, but it’s difficult to overstate how damn-near perfect Feist’s output has been. Her solo albums all shine with so much love, vulnerability, and character. And god damn that voice is good. One could also argue that some of Broken Social Scene’s strongest songs feature her or are written by her (see most recently, “Hug of Thunder,” the title track from BSS’s most recent album).
Hell, even her remix album, Open Season, has some gems on there that I prefer to the original.