Feist's New Album, "Intuition" Video

It's always nice to see really talented artists get the attention they deserve. Leslie Feist, the Canadian songstress who began by lending her vocals for Broken Social Scene and Kings of Convenience before launching her solo career, certainly has no shortage of exposure right now, with her own iTunes commercial.

The Reminder, Feist's third album (most people don't know about her debut, "Monarch (Lay Your Jeweled Head Down)" released in 1999) is her strongest yet, and has rightly proven to be the most successful. Contributing to this success is its impeccable production, which along with her talent for songwriting, composing, and singing, has made an album of top-notch indie-folk-pop songs that vary considerably but never cease to please.

Whereas Let it Die showed hints of genius, her weaker songs suggested that she was still trying to find her comfort zone. The Reminder is an album full of confidence, in which Leslie (again) bares her soul, but does so in a way that suggests she's moved on, in more ways than one perhaps. Her new songs are beautiful; some are very catchy ("My Moon My Man", "1234"), others are very chill ("The Park"), but they're all spot-on lyrically and melodically.

One thing that I've noticed about the ablum is its perfect song arrangement. Being one whose favorite hobby is to make mix cds, I must say that the order of songs on this album is absolutely perfect, and makes listening to it enjoyable as a whole. It starts out exactly how it should and ends exactly how it should; in the journey from an apology in the first track through the many feelings one feels in and out of love to a realization of oneself, you don't want to miss a beat. All the emotions are here, and all her talents are on display.

Intuition is my favorite track on the album, because it is the most heartfelt and it is the song in which Feist's voice shines through the best. I didn't even know she played guitar on this song, which is amazing, until I saw this video. It's only she and her guitar, recorded live. Seeing her perform it adds so much to it. I can't wait to see her live in Chicago come November. (She recently added some North American tour dates, check out her official site for info).

Favorite Song #3: "Moving Pictures, Silent Films" by Great Lake Swimmers

Great Lake Swimmers is a Canadian indie-folk band fronted by Tony Dekker that is similar in sound to Red House Painters, Nick Drake, and Iron & Wine. Therefore, if you're unfamiliar with these bands, GLS plays mostly soft, lyrical, essentially bare music that embodies the understanding that you don't need many instruments and heavy production to create poignant, heartfelt music.

Their self-titled 2003 debut consists of ten guitar-vocal duets, with the exception of two songs that utilize drums. I read once that the entire album was recorded in an abandoned grain silo with minimal equipment. That's apparent in the echo and especially the ambient noises-such as the crickets and other insects which can be heard throughout this song and the rest of the album-which add an atmospheric and relaxing effect to the music. It's a perfect album for the night, since that seems to be its original auditory and emotional home.

The songs are mostly sad, slow ballads, so obviously you have to be in the right mood to really enjoy this stuff. I love sad music, but if you hate it, you might want to stay away.

This track, the first on the album, is probably one of the happier-sounding songs on the whole album (although its subject matter, may be the most depressing). The guitar line on this song is the prettiest sounding of the ten, and the slight piano accompaniment adds a great deal of melodic depth. But Dekker's voice is best displayed on this track, blending perfectly with the melody and expressed earnestly.

Perhaps the reason why this is one of my favorite songs is because 1. I never get sick of it, listening to it over and over again; and 2. I can never quite determine exactly what this song is about. Dekker has said that it's simply a song about hibernation, but it's impossible to accept that as its meaning simply because of how emotional this song feels. I've heard countless interpretations, but I'll leave it up to you.

Moving Pictures Silent Films.mp3

Here are the lyrics:

Oh wake me please when this is over
Oh when the ice is melted away
And the hunger returns
I will be the same, but older
And maybe twice the bear
That I thought I was

Where have you been,
And what have you done?
I've been under the ground
Eating prayers from this old book I found
Under the ground
Saving it up, and spending it all
On moving pictures
Silent films
Moving pictures
Silent films

Or is this the dream I've been saving?
Oh where the heart beats slower and slower
To almost nothing
Almost nothing
Almost nothing

I took it for love
Or at least something beautiful
Out there in the spotlight
But I turned around suddenly,
Turned around squinting
And saw
That it was headlights
And then the truth, the truth was unbearable
Oh, and imminent
Bearing down on these two shadow animals

Caught painting a dotted line
Caught painting a dotted line
Caught painting a dotted line

Where have you been?
And what have you done?
I've been under the ground
Eating in prayers from this old book I found
Under the ground
Saving it up
And spending it all
On moving pictures
Silent films
Moving pictures
Silent films