The Reminder [Extra tracks]

Very simply, "The Reminder" is a beautifully crafted set of songs about love and relationships, performed by Canadian singer/songwriter (Leslie) Feist. It is her second solo album, building on the impressive 2004 offering - "Let It Die". What makes this album special is how well it combines the unique qualities of Feist's plaintive, yet expressive vocals with delicate arrangements of piano, guitar, and percussion, not to mention the poetic quality of the lyrics, the distinct individual characteristics of each song, and the consistent high quality that is maintained throughout the album.

The album beings "So Sorry", an apology that is poignant in its simplicity ("I'm sorry / Two words I always think / After you're gone / When I realise I was acting all wrong"), before turning to "I Feel It All", a song that compares a fluttering heart when falling with love to the wings of a bird and then speaks of having to shoot this bird down, as the other person may not feel the same ("Oh I will be the one who'll break my heart / I'll be the one to hold the gun"). On a similar theme, "The Park" is a slow melancholic song about the crushing realisation, having mistaken someone for her lover, that the latter may not be the special person that she had let herself think he was.

After another moody number in "The Water", the pace is lifted with "Sealion", a light-hearted look at a manipulative woman:

Sea lion woman dressed in red
Smile at the man
When you wake up in his bed
Sea lion woman dressed in black
Wink at the man
And then stab him in his back

"The Limit To Your Love" is one of the album's highlights, with some of Feist's best vocals combining with a strings arrangement, to produce this soulful song of loving the thrill of falling for someone who she knows will not be able to reciprocate fully. It is followed by 1234, which, despite being one of the first singles from the album, is actually one of the songs that I have least warmed to, mostly because it sounds like a nursery rhyme.

"Brandy Alexander" is a sexily sung comparison of how a perfect partner for someone is like the ideal complementary drink - irresistible not to overindulge with!

"Intuition" is a song where the woman sense regret for ending a relationship and wonders just how much she ought to trust her instincts for these things. If only all women could be as honest as this!

And it's impossible to tell
How important someone was
And what you might have missed out on
And how he might have changed it all
And how you might have changed it all for him

Fellow Broken Social Scene collective members Kevin Drew and Brendan Canning then provide backing vocals on "Honey Honey", while Charles Spearin features earlier on My Moon My Man, an allegory of how relationships are imperfect but important ("It's the dirtiest clean I know").

The album finally ends with "How My Heart Behaves", one of the few highly produced songs on the album, and one that allegorically speaks of emotions taking root after careful nurturing and now beginning to blossom ("I'm a stem now / Pushing the drought inside / Opening Up / Fanning My Yellow Eye").

How to sum up? Well, to put it like this, if I hear a finer album this year, then I will be seriously pleased.

I bought this album on the strength of what I heard in a record shop. I was blown away by the incredible voice and the immediately catchy sound. The voice was familiar but I couldn't figure out why. When I discovered the artist's identity it made more sense, as I already owned her first album, but had dimissed it as being merely OK(plus there were some worryingly Sade-like tendencies).

I have had some time now to digest the album and I would say that it is a strange mix of perfection and near-misses, but the near-misses are far better than 95% of what's out there. I've since decided that the real reason her voice seems so familiar is a vague resemblance to Ricky Lee Jones rather than my remembering of her prior work.

One of the things that some people liked about her previous album was the intimacy that derived from its restrained production. Well here they've pulled out all the stops and if anything there are a couple of tracks where you actually wish they'd held back(on the reverb' say)a little. But overall I would say that this album benefits hugely from a LESS minimalist approach. While Feist has progressed with this album I'm not convinced it is all in a positive direction.

There is an amazing variety of material on this album, but perhaps not enough killer tracks. It certainly deserves some success and I suspect it will get it.

My Moon My Man was probably the most commercial thing Feist has ever put on record. Yes there were certain cuts from Let It Die that wouldn't sound out of place on the radio, but never has Leslie Feist come up with a shinier, happier simple pop song.

And by listening to 1234, another track on the delightful new album The Reminder, you could be fooled into thinking that Feist has "sold out" for commercial gain. It's not to say that either song is bad, in fact it's far from it. Both are so good that it's difficult to align it with the more "out-there" aspects of her oeuvre. But fear not, The Reminder shows Feist in all her genre-hopping glory.

So the jazzy, Norah Jones-esque So Sorry can sit snugly with the piano driven The Limit To Your Love which can conversely sit quite happily alongside Brandy Alexander with it's finger-clicking "drum" beat.

Granted with such an eclectic range of styles not everything works, and I can well imagine different listeners picking out different individual highlights. But in a way that just goes to show you what an album this is. It's not perfect, but it's never less than captivating. Even on the times you're thinking "she's not got that right" Leslie Feist is such a talent that you can usually see/hear why she tried. I'd recommend this wholeheartedly.