Customer Reviews

Monarch: Lay Down Your Jeweled Head

5 star:		(3)
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Mellow and sweet with subtle nuances bursting into a darkened room, Feist uses repetitive phrasing to solidly anchor each piece so that each minor variation jumps right out at you. Obviously exercising total control in the studio, a technique Sarah Mclachlan handles so well too, Feist produces music which is so easy, so enjoyable to listen to that you'll be hard pressed to end your listening session. My highest rating!

A fantastic voice, off-kilter but fitting and catchy arrangements, and smart (though eccentric) songwriting are the identifying marks of this album. And it pulled off a great feat, containing many moments that made me go, "What?" but at the same time offering me a completely engaging listen. It's not quite folk, rock, country, or alternapop, but echoes all of these styles without being confined to one.

Leslie Feist's songwriting arsenal is mind-boggling. Lyrically she sometimes implements word-play like The Loud Family's Scott Miller, sometimes cool, narrative poetry a la Suzanne Vega, sometimes romantic, simple invocations like traditional pop lyricists. And Feist mixes her own guitar playing, a prominent string section (brilliant arranged by Dave Szigeti), keyboards and drums in surprising, fresh ways, with parts that leap out at you at unexpected places that always give the songs a new texture. And her singing is sublime, at points slightly off-key when she feels like it, but then exploding into soaring bursts of pure emotion. The title track, with its heralding violin strains and nonstop tunefulness, is my favourite; "It's Cool to Love Your Family" begins the album on a wry, funky note; "La Sirena" is beautiful, evoking a feeling of loneliness and mild threat akin to Lisa Germano's Geek the Girl; "That's What I Say, It's Not What I Mean" is a pretty, pleading waltz; dazzling multipart vocals light up the rhythmically tricky ballad "Still True"; and "The Mast" is possibly the most moving melody on the whole record, Feist showing off her voice accompanied by a minimal instrumental backdrop.

This is a record I would've very much liked a lyric sheet to given Feist's very eccentric songwriting topicality and choice of lyrics. Other than that, I'm on board for the whole ride.

Before I review the other albums, let me start with this discontinued one which now sells for over $700 per disc. You will probably want it as an MP3 purchase after hearing her two newer albums. Her music quickly becomes an odd little drug, like Thom Yorke's The Eraser. Once struggling to stop playing her albums over and over, you will go back and find Monarch. When I first put it on I was nearly stunned by the harmonically addicting yet catchy "Family" which is followed by toned yet eerie tracks that should never have flown under the radar. Monarch, when listened to carefully, should provide as many tears as it does joy. There's something just incredible about Feist braking her vocal chords only to 4-track herself a new sound amidst the recovery process. Monarch is raw and pure, like Feist herself.