Feist.
Smooth operator: Disenchanted by Dido? Sick of Sade? Jaded with Norah Jones? Then make room in your boudoir for Leslie Feist, the coolest chanteuse to hit the chillout room in yonks. Known simply as Feist, this Canadian chick has taken a little time to find her own voice (she even lost it completely for a while, and was told by a doc not to sing for six months), a seductive, alluring singing style known as jhai. It's typified by a detached manner which, far from coming across as indifferent, actually gives greater emotional depth to the song. It's on full display on Feist's second solo album, Let It Die, which has just been released to universal acclaim, not to mention unbridled delight. Its 11 tracks shimmy smoothly from rootsy cabaret to folksy soul to poignant pop, with sultry, sparse arrangements by Feist's longtime friend and collaborator, Chilly Gonzales. She first met Gonzales (real name Jason Beck) when he hit on her at a gig, and it's been mutual musical love ever since.
Lap of honour: A native of Calgary, Canada, Feist formed her first band, a punk outfit named Placebo (no relation to the Britpop-grunge trio led by Brian Molko). Her first gig was supporting The Ramones at an outdoor festival after winning a Battle of the Bands contest. Placebo broke up five years later, and Feist moved to Toronto, where she shared a flat with raunchy electro-punk siren Peaches. Soon, she was playing guitar with local heroes By Divine Right and performing with Canadian indie legends The Tragically Hip. She sang on her roommate's album, The Teaches of Peaches, and joined her on tour, calling herself Bitch Lap Lap and, as she admits, rapping very badly with a sock puppet.
Sang froid: After a spell with US indie collective Broken Social Scene, Feist settled in Paris and discovered the delights of Dusty Springfield, Carole King and Jane Birkin. It wasn't all la vie en rose and springtime in Paris, however; she and Gonzales stayed in a cheap hotel with no heating, and worked on her new songs in the chilly Parisian winter, with help from Manu Chao's producer, Renaud Letang. To test the waters, Feist recorded cover versions of some of her favourite songs, including Ron Sexsmith's Secret Heart and, er, a song by The Bee Gees. Both of them feature on Let It Die. She also wrote and recorded a duet with the divine Mme Birkin and sung on Calexico's The Ballad of Cable Hogue as well as the new album by Kings of Convenience.
Top of the world: "An effortless blend of PJ Harvey, Sade and even Jeff Buckley. makes Norah Jones sound like a cruise ship crooner." - Jack magazine. "A Karen Carpenter for the chemical generation."
- Mixmag
