Multitudes is Feist's quietest, most intimate, and patient record to date. This is not an immediate one where everything will click for you on first listen, rather it will take some time until the album starts to become warm, inviting, and rewarding.
Leslie Feist is one of Canada's best and most interesting singer songwriters to come out of the indie scene in the late 90's and early 2000's. Initially being a member of the critically acclaimed juggernaut Broken Social Scene, Feist went on her own with incredible record after incredible record. She struck gold with 2007's The Reminder, an album that catapulted Feist to huge commercial and pop culture success at a rapidly quick rate and for an indie pop artist at her level, that's massive. Whether you liked it or not, Feist became a household name with The Reminder and typically indie artists that receive this amount of success will continue down this path of accessible, chart topping commercialized indie pop. But not Feist. She hunkered down into creating more intricate, lo-fi art pop and acoustic folk rock music, furthering a divide in her fanbase and group of praising critics. Personally, I love everything Feist has done up until this point and I would argue by saying 2011's Metals and 2017's Pleasure, two records that further explored this quiet, patient, and often daring art pop territory, are her best. Maybe it's because Pleasure is the first Feist record I dove into and The Reminder ended up being my last? It honestly depends on the given day since all of her albums are brilliant and you could say any of them is her all-time best.
Feist continues to make challenging records that don't have radio ready singles nor the accessibility of The Reminder, but rather pushes herself with experimental guitar playing, lo-fi recordings, odd sampling and field recording choices, and her signature soft croon. She also takes her time when making a record, typically every six years or so. Heck, it's already been six years since Pleasure dropped. It certainly takes awhile but let me tell you, it's worth the wait every time. That's also the case for Multitudes, Feist's latest album. This collection of twelve songs were in the recording process for awhile back during the pandemic and following that, she performed this intimate, spontaneous, and gorgeous performances to small audiences with some experimental looping visuals backing her. If you catch her on her latest tour, it's by far one of the coolest and most memorable live shows I've ever been a part of. I saw her at First Avenue a month or so ago and IT WAS INCREDIBLE.
I will say that Multitudes is Feist's quietest, most intimate, and arguably the most beautiful album in her career (which considering her discography... says a lot). Much of the instrumentals are stripped back with acoustic guitar and vocals, lush harmonies as expected, cinematic strings, but sometimes some glitchy and weird electronics are thrown into the mix offering up a nice surprise. On the flip side, Multitudes is Feist's most challenging and least accessible record to date. If you thought Pleasure didn't have that much pop appeal, take a listen to this and hear for yourself. This isn't a bad thing by any means. I love the daring, intricate art pop and folk that Feist continues to bring to the table ever since she approached this on Metals. But if you're only a fan of the catchier pop tunes on Let It Die or The Reminder, I'm not sure if you'll dig this one. Multitudes is also Feist's most patient record. This is not an immediate one where everything will click for you on first listen, rather it will take some time until the album starts to become warm, inviting, and rewarding.
The album kicks off with its most explosive and bombastic track, "In Lightning." The glitchy electronics, abrasive guitar playing, and sharp quirky vocal inflections and harmonies make it a standout track. Vocally and stylistically it does remind me of artists like Dirty Projectors, Björk, and tune-yards and it's cool to see Feist branch out into this sonic territory. Although the track is great, I will say is kind of sticks out like a sore thumb in the track listing because the majority of the album is incredibly quiet and subdued. But it is the first track and I think it works for the most part. If it was in the middle of the album, I think it would've been much more awkward. The other standout track is "Borrow Trouble," a booming song with swaying strings, a powerful vocal performance and a killer saxophone solo towards the end. At first the song was good but it's really grown over repeated listens. Aside from these two, that's pretty much all the upbeat and catchy moments you're going to get. The rest of the album contains quiet, mostly acoustic ballads that although not instant, they really bring out a lot of beauty and shine over time.
As I've listened to Multitudes more and more, songs that are considered my favorites are always changing. "Hiding Out In the Open" is incredible with its uplifting harmonies and a knockout chorus. It's easily one of the most memorable songs on the album. I could listen to the acoustic guitar playing on "The Redwing" all day. It's as calm and pretty as a cozy campfire on a Summer's night. The woodwinds on "Martyr Moves" are definitely a highlight and it's a beautiful slow burner. The chanting hymn-like harmonies on "Calling All the Gods" are fantastic. "Forever Before" is a big highlight for me and remains one of my favorite ballads ever released from Feist. The same goes for "Love Who We Are Meant To," which is simply just perfection. Other songs that take some time to grow on you include "Of Womankind," "I Took All of My Rings Off," and "Become the Earth," but they're all worth listening to over and over.
Songwriting wise, it's excellent. Production wise, it's gorgeous. It's slightly less lo-fi than Pleasure and Metals, but it's more detailed and lush with the added strings and harmonies than the two. As a big fan of Feist, I loved Multitudes and continue to love it. I'll admit it didn't click with me at first but I didn't give up on it and I'm glad I didn't. I mean, I would never bow out on a new Feist album but maybe some people might...? Like her past couple of releases, they are challenging and aren't for the casual listener. I would actually say that Multitudes is probably the album that will mostly be enjoyed by the hardcore fans. If you're a listener on the surface, I'm not sure if you'd like this one. But... if you're really into some artful folk and pop music that has a lot of charm and some experimentation thrown in there, I would totally give this one a shot. It's beautifully intimate, captivating, and rewarding. It's definitely one of the year's best albums and deservedly so. May Feist continue to make more gems in the foreseeable future... even if it takes another six years until we get them.
My Rating: 9 / 10
Favorite Songs: "Hiding Out In the Open," "Borrow Trouble," "Forever Before," "The Redwing," "Love Who We Are Meant To," "Martyr Moves," "In Lightning"
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