Feist
Pleasure
Album · Pop · 2017
Leslie Feist’s striking fifth album follows a series of left turns: the tidy indie pop of her early work, the commercial appeal of The Reminder and the earthy about-face of Metals. Like Metals, Pleasure feels almost like a blues album, more spacious and stripped down than its predecessor, but strikingly dynamic, filled with rustling and whispers that swell into clangs and shouts. It proves that Feist is one of the most quietly unpredictable songwriters—and gifted vocalists—working today. “Come with your true arc/To fall all the way down”, she sings on the breathy centrepiece “Baby Be Simple”, sounding as exposed and mysterious as she ever has.