Album Review: Feist - The Reminder

I've realized that I haven't done any music reviews since very early on in the existence of this site. Part of that stems from the time required to hunt down the album art and a link to Amazon (or the artist's webpage) due to my poor laptop being a bit on the elderly side.

However, upon further review I've decided that all of that is just superfluous garbage that either distracts from the review or masks the inadequacies of it, and if you're really interested in the album you'll know where to find it. (And if you really don't, Google is your friend.)

Anyway, I've picked up quite a bit of new music since those early days, so I'm going to make a goal of doing at least one review each week until I'm satisfied that all the good, under-hyped music that I've got here gets a wee bit more attention, at least for my two readers to appreciate. Tonight's review focuses on Feist's new album, The Reminder.

Take one part Cat Power, one part Sarah Harmer, and one part Sarah McLachlan, blend them together and you've got a very lousy, but typical, review of Feist's music. Instead I'd prefer to actually talk about it some. Feist's musical style on this album ranges from quiet folksy numbers to full choral sing-alongs. Her earlier work focused more on the former, so it seems on this album she's experimenting more with different instruments and arrangements. Some of the songs work quite nicely (1234 is quite catchy, and also apparently the backing music for the new iPod commercials on TV) but in some cases she seems lost in a sea of other noises. This is unfortunate, because her signature skill is her almost-quivering vocals, that ring out beautifully on the quiet, acoustic numbers. She has a slight vibrato in her singing that gives a haunted quality which shines when you can hear all the echoes and harmonies. Many of the early tracks feature her alone or with one or two accompanying instruments, and it helps connect this album to her acoustic work on her previous album, Let it Die (there was also apparently a remix album between these two, but I haven't heard anything off of that and folk remix albums are often ... well, let's just say "interesting".) The new album abruptly shifts gears with the track "Sealion", which features a much more upbeat tone with a full chorus chanting backing vocals. On this track she disappears into a cacophony of other voices, and although it's one of the most upbeat tracks it also feels the most out of place. From here the album takes a less moody tone and transitions into further upbeat works (the music, if not the lyrics) and it's as if she had an epiphany part-way through writing the album, as it shifts from quiet, lyrically-driven, introspective works to lush, instrumentation-driven, pop music. It's an interesting transition, and she almost pulls it off with the way she laid out the album, but there are still a few abrupt transitions such that it doesn't quite flow smoothly from start-to-end.

Statbox -

Artist: Feist
Album: The Reminder
Genre: Folk Pop
Rating: 7 out of 10
Purchase Again?: Yes
PWKPW?: Maybe

Why a maybe on the PWKPW? Unlike with a lot of artists where I purchase follow-up albums without even hearing them first (often within a week of their release), I bought this partially because I liked her earlier work and partially because I heard two tracks on the radio, but I didn't buy it until today and it's been out since May 1. One big factor in its favor? It was on sale for $9 at the local independent record store.

All in all it's a pleasant album and there are a few tracks that will get stuck in your head, but it's not particularly groundbreaking. My mother would probably enjoy it (and she's no doubt seen the iPod commercial) but I doubt it'll make a very big splash on commercial radio, in part because Apple doesn't actually acknowledge what the music is during the ad.