An album that will surely Live On (Let It Die - Feist)

Member Name: TheChocolateLady

Product:	Let It Die - Feist
Date:	19/04/09 (214 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: The vocals, the lyrics, the music, the instrumentation, the arrangements

Disadvantages: Absolutely NOTHING

If you're looking for something a little bit different to listen to, something that will surprise you with every track, perhaps you should try Feist's album "Let it Die". The band "Feist" is led by Canadian singer-songwriter Leslie Feist and this 2004 album of original and cover songs brought her into the billboards and even got her into a Lacoste commercial.

Trying to put a label on Feist is like trying to trap a drop of rain in a cage. This album (according to Wikipedia) is "considered a combination of jazz, bossa nova and indie rock", but that doesn't quite cover it all. Especially when she covers a Bee Gees disco song "Inside & Out", includes a version of a traditional American folk song "When I was a Young Girl", or puts her own spin on Ron Sexsmith's song "Secret Heart" which has been recorded by such diverse artists as "The Monkees", Kylie Minogue and Rod Stewart. Add to that some songs in French, including (on the Arts & Craft version of this album) one jazz song originally sung by Francoise Hardy in the 60s, and you've got yourself one multifaceted collection on your hands, to say the least.

But that doesn't mean it feels like some odd collection of unrelated songs. Feist's bright soprano voice goes from clear, innocent and vivid in the upper registers to warm, smoky and sexy in the lower ones, with everything in between. Listening to her sing with a voice so flexible and graceful you might think that she's got someone else singing leads on certain songs. But not so. Moreover, this eclectic group of songs all seems to fit together somehow and delight the listener with every track. The problem with trying to review this album is trying not to get overly effusive about it all. See, this is the type of album you can listen to in a loop and never get tired of. What's more, if you're in a good mood, it will make you feel even better, but if you're feeling a bit down, it will cheer you up as well. In the background, in the foreground, it doesn't matter - there is absolutely nothing I can fault this album on, except perhaps that I wish it had another baker's dozen more songs included (or two)!

But let me see if I can curb my enthusiasm enough to give this review the objectivity it deserves. While it isn't easy to categorize this album, we do mostly have two types of songs here. There are the original pieces and the covers. When it comes to the latter, this album could become a case study for singing talent contests (a la American Idol, for instance). Certainly when I heard her singing "Inside and Out" I didn't even recognize it to begin with, because she made it so much 'her' song. Feist's version felt fresh, new and contemporary and not at all like an old dredged up disco song. She does the same with "Secret Heart" by taking the tempo up a few notches from the original version and eliminating all the angst and making it more like a playful, almost teasing song about admitting your true feelings both to yourself and to the person you care for.

A quick look at the track list below will show that in addition to these cover songs is a nice mixture of both fully original songs and collaborations. So while the covers show her artistry as an interpretive singer, the rest of the album shows off her creativity while still highlighting her vocal abilities. The collaboration songs also show different sides of her music, ranging from jazz to blues to rock to folk without ever missing a beat, or feeling like she's doing something out of character. There are even times when I wonder if older listeners wouldn't find this album as easy on the ear as some of their old-time crooners, while the younger listeners will enjoy the fanciful and interesting arrangements that include such unlikely things as banjos, oil drums, synthesizers and electric guitars.

The two songs that are completely hers show two very different sides of love. "Mushaboom" talks about the dreams the singer has for the future with the person she loves, while title track "Let it Die" is about not feeling guilty that a romantic encounter is nothing more than a one-night stand. Talk about your totally opposite topics for songs. Yet both songs are beautifully written, with interesting lyrics and with tunes that perfectly reflect the emotions the words are trying to express. I particularly like the old fashioned feel of the "shaboom" in the chorus of the former song, which lends an almost folk-like feel to it.

As already stated, this is probably one of the most difficult albums to review, and it is almost impossible to properly instill how truly lovely this album is. From the vocals to the arrangements to the lyrics to the compilation, this is by far one of the most enjoyable albums I've ever listened to, and had me running out to get her next one almost immediately. What's more, the more you listen to these songs, the more you'll enjoy them - and that's something that usually doesn't happen with an album that you like from the beginning. I cannot recommend this highly enough and am seriously thinking I might need to remove stars from other albums I've reviewed just to impress upon my readers just how much I think of Feist and this album. Now if I could only give this album more than five stars out of five, then I'd feel it was getting a truly worthy rating. Bottom line: Feist's album "Let it Die" is one that will live on for quite some time!

Thanks for reading!

Davida Chazan © April, 2009

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Technical Stuff:
You can buy this album new on Amazon for £4.98 or from their marketplace from £1.85.

The official website for Feist can be found at www.listentofeist.com/

Track List
1. "Gatekeeper" (Feist, Gonzales)
2. "Mushaboom" (Feist)
3. "Let It Die" (Feist)
4. "One Evening" (Feist, Gonzales)
5. "Leisure Suite" (Feist, Gonzales)
6. "Lonely Lonely" (music by Tony Scherr, lyrics by Feist)
7. "When I Was a Young Girl" (traditional, inspired by Texas Gladden)
8. "Secret Heart" (Ron Sexsmith)
9. "Inside and Out" (Barry Gibb, Maurice Gibb, Robin Gibb)
10. "Tout Doucement" (Clausier, Mercadier)
11. "Now at Last" (Bob Haymes)
Bonus tracks on the Arts & Craft version only:
12. "Amourissima" (Gonzales, Feist, Pierre Grillet)
13. "L'Amour ne dure pas toujours" (Francoise Hardy),
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Summary: Feist's 2004 album is one of the best I've ever heard