Feist is back, but anyone who’s not aware of that must be forgiven.
The much-loved indie rocker has always let her music, instead of media interviews, define her. Now that she’s touring behind her most recent album, “Metals,” that music really has a lot to say.
“It was one of the loudest roars I’ve heard at an indoor concert, ever, and certainly the loudest I’ve ever heard at Radio City in the eight years I’ve been frequenting the venue,” wrote music journalist William Goodman of Fuse after attending Feist’s recent Radio City Music Hall concert. “Throngs of women (they outnumbered men 2 to 1, by my estimate) were on their feet, straight losing their minds every time a new song started. I admit: I screamed like a girl.”
| If you go |
| ‘Feist’ |
| When: 8 p.m. Wednesday |
| Where: The Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda |
| Info: $45; strathmore.org; ticketmaster.com; 202-397-SEAT (7328) |
Feist has taken an unusual road to success. After finding major success with her 2007 album “Reminders,” Feist didn’t release a new album until September. “Metals,” as critics will tell you, is very experimental, especially when compared to her earlier pop sound.
“In doing so, she risked losing, and probably has lost, the mass audience drawn to her commercial pop side,” wrote the Wall Street Journal’s Jim Fussili. “Regardless of the financial sense of her decision, right now Feist is making the best music of her career.”
This isn’t the first time Feist has done an about-face musically. After starting a music career as a teen and going straight to the brink of punk stardom, she was forced to take a break due to a strained voice and completely refocused her music.
“It was a dark time … being unsure of what’s going to happen is scary, but it motivated me in a way,” she said. “I found a new way to understand [melodies] through playing guitar.”
It also caused Feist to shift her focus as she worked out songs on her guitar, a four-track recorder and a Dictaphone. Fast-forward to Feist playing guitar with By Divine Right, and later joining Broken Social Scene just before its 2003 breakthrough album “You Forgot It In People.”
But for all the success she enjoyed with bands, it was her solo CD that caused critics, including the New York Times to sing her praises: “After a decade of wandering, an indie darling is ready to become pop’s one name wonder.”
And what about now that “Metals” is such a different musical sound? Will she stay with that experimental genre? Don’t bet on it.
“I’ve always imagined there’s a windshield and a rearview mirror … and the windshield is so much bigger than the mirror,” she said. “I’m heading forward.”
