Music Disc Reviews

The collection certainly starts strong, with an impressive opening trio of tunes: the moody ballad "So Sorry," the New Wave-y rocker "I Feel It All," and most notably the mock-soul stirrer "My Moon My Man." But as the set wears on, the novelty of the high/low-fi sonic approach (expert texturing of keyboards and horns at some points, amateurish bleeding of mikes at others) begins to wear off, as do the too-precious vocal postures (a whisper here, a falsetto there). Ultimately, what's left is a series of fragmented impressions: Like any good Canadian lass, Feist has listened to plenty of Joni Mitchell (see "Intuition" or "The Limit to Your Love"). Like any good modern lass, she's a fan of Nina Simone (see "Sealion," an okay - albeit very, very white - reworking of Simone's "See Line Woman"). And like any good songwriter - Canadian or otherwise - she knows that letting Ron Sexsmith compose music to your lyrics is a good thing (see the infectious "Brandy Alexander").

Is Feist talented? Absolutely. But as with my Crow problem, I can't get past the outlines for fear that there's little to discover inside them. As such (and pardon the dime-store psychology), it would seem that the front-cover silhouette of Feist (also used as a cameo illustration throughout the booklet) is no accident. Attractive, to be sure - but nonetheless, still only a shadow.

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