Rating: NNNN
Like sometime cohort and fellow expat Peaches, Leslie “Bitch Lap” Feist has flourished in Europe. On Let It Die, she sheds the frail indie songwriterisms of 99’s Monarch for what could be the soundtrack to a quirky romantic French film. It’s a mix of smoky Euro cabaret jazz, saloon piano, Latin shuffle and sultry blue-eyed soul that shows off the power of Feist’s new-found vocal restraint. She interprets covers and originals with the emotional insight of a trained jazz singer, while producers Jason “Chilly Gonzales” Beck and Manu Chao’s Renaud Lang frame Feist’s dark bedroom tunes with delicately detailed arrangements – from the muttered background vocals, chimes and handclap percussion of lead single Mushaboom to the tiny gospel choir backing the buoyant take on Ron Sexsmith’s Secret Heart. C’est formidable.
